In the late 80s and early 90s, in the rush to find the next big fad (in the wake of the furore caused by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) numerous animated shows and tie-in toy lines, often based around anthropomorphic animal heroes, came and went, often with little fanfare. Though many crashed and burned without making much impact, one did manage to be more successful than several others: Biker Mice From Mars.

I was a little too old for Biker Mice From Mars when it came out, having just got to the stage where toys and the average cartoon felt a little too childish for me. So I don’t have a great deal of nostalgia for it, or familiarity with it either. Apparently, a new animated series is in production, and this first issue of a new comic book run will lead into the rebooted show.

This comic is also part of the ‘Nacelleverse’, which seems to be a collection of properties owned by The Nacelle Company, who’ve bought the rights to numerous also-ran franchises from yesteryear; though that may seem like a bit of a harsh description, there’s no denying that the comic universe feels like a cobbled together collection of second stringers: Roboforce, Sectaurs, Power Lords and, probably the most high profile of them all: Biker Mice From Mars.

The thing is, I kind of dig this approach, and I’m a big cheerleader for lesser known properties and, to use a less charitable description, somewhat failed properties getting a fresh shot at the spotlight. Each of these toy and cartoon properties had something unique, but for whatever reason just didn’t make it, certainly not to the status of genuine, lasting pop culture phenomenon, as something like the aforementioned TMNT did.

So here we are with Biker Mice From Mars #1; the premise being that the planet Mars, which is populated by colonies of anthropomorphic mice, is being invaded by fish-esque colonisers: the Plutarkians. Three vigilante mice (Throttle, Modo and Vinnie) carry out disruptive attacks on the Plutarkians, in Mad Max-esque combat on their motorbikes, and try to keep their city safe from the expanding, encroaching Plutarkian operations.

The tone is surprisingly gritty, despite the toy-esque appeal of the character designs; elements, such as Throttle’s mother seemingly suffering from dementia, drive home the fact that this isn’t just a straightforward retread of the kid-friendly cartoon.

It’s actually quite an enjoyable read, with a feel not unlike, say, a more mature-skewing TMNT comic, of which there are, of course, plenty.

The wider Nacelleverse elements aren’t really felt here, which is good; this is a story focused entirely on the biker mice and their vigilante activities. It’s pretty well written, and the art is excellent throughout.

It’s actually strong enough that it makes me curious about the original cartoon, though it’s unlikely to have aged particularly well, I suspect.

Overall though, this is a good start, and should definitely please those fans of the original cartoon, who’ll either be in their late 30s or early 40s by now!

You can read my review of Biker Mice From Mars #2 here.