PHINEAS AND FERB’S A-MAZE-ING CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE

Phineas and Ferb go on two new adventures in this comic collection based on the Disney animated series.

First, the book presents a tale set in 1952, featuring an alternate-universe version of the Phineas and Ferb cast (a recurring bit that will be familiar to longtime fans). The boys are still their inventive selves; Dr. Doofenshmirtz is “Doof of the Dark,” the local host of a schlocky monster-movie broadcast; and Candace is a cub reporter trying to get her big break. When toxic goo makes various creatures gigantic, the pair head to the studio to get help—only to find that Doof of the Dark isn’t the monster expert he plays on TV. He still teams up with them when a certain monotreme starts wrecking the city—and Candace is fired after missing out on reporting the story. In the second tale, set in the ordinary Phineas and Ferb fictional universe, the boys, left alone for the day, enlist the help of Isabella, Baljeet, and Buford to build a giant maze in their backyard. Doofenshmirtz invents an “elong-inate-inator,” hoping to finally become taller than his brother, Roger. This ray, of course, hits the backyard labyrinth, making it so enormous that even Candace sets aside her goal of getting her siblings in trouble. As the kids ride colossal grasshoppers through the maze, Doofenshmirtz and Perry the Platypus duke it out. Peterson, who penned several alternate-universe episodes of the show, and Pruett, another of the show’s writers, crafted these fine tales. As a result, they feature plenty of clever jokes, as when a man shouts, “Oh, no! My confetti!” while looking out his window at a tickertape parade. There are also appealing fourth-wall-busting hijinks, as when Doofenshmirtz hits the ground with a “KUH-KRUNCH” and exclaims, “That crunch was so hard, it was a ‘crunch’ with a ‘K!’” Artists Angelilli, Follini, and Papi ace the look of the show while conjuring some terrific action sequences; the fight between Perry and Doofenshmirtz, for instance, is both frenetic and funny.

A well-crafted collection that will please longtime fans of the show.