Napoleon Dynamite: An Unexpected Sequel

Napoleon Dynamite #1
Written by: Carlos Guzman-Verdugo & Alejandro Verdugo
Art and Colors by: Jorge Monlongo
Design and Letters by: Christa Miesner
Cover by: Sara Richard
Assistant Edits by: Megan Brown
Edited by: Tom Waltz
Released: Sept. 18, 2019

With all the reboots and returns in TV and movies these days, it's no surprise 2004's offbeat comedy “Napoleon Dynamite” was revisited.

It was a little surprising that it came in comic book form.

In the fall of 2019, IDW Publishing released a four-issue series featuring Idaho's most famous fictional son. While it's not the science fiction, horror, fantasy or action franchise you might expect to see make the leap to comics, it would be hard to film a story in the characters' next year of school when the cast is 15 years older.

Just in case you're not familiar with the movie, it told the story of an oddball high school student named – wait for it – Napoleon Dynamite, who was as odd as his name. He befriends a new student named Pedro and an enterprising girl named Deb, while dealing with bullies, an older brother and an annoying uncle still pining for his lost destiny as a high school football star.

Napoleon is one of the more confident introverts you'll ever see and fiercely loyal. He secures Pedro's election as student class president with an epic dance number, but is mostly content to dominate the sport of solo playground tetherball.

The cover of the first issue is striking, with Napoleon's “Vote for Pedro” T-shirt messily altered to “Impeach Pedro.” There's no word on the potential impact to your wildest dreams.

I thought this portended a falling out between the friends, but the challenge to Pedro's administration comes from a new student, Joana Gato, who suspects the election may have been tainted by fraud. (My mind went there too, but this came out in 2019, so it's not a current events commentary.)

This comes as Napoleon is contemplating what to do after graduation (he wants to be a cryptozoologist or join the military to infiltrate Area 51), getting closer with Deb (they shared a milk at lunch) and starting training at a new dojo (Rex Kwon Do was “basically a total ripoff”). Kip is in Detroit with his bride Lafawnduh, and their grandmother is renting out his room in an effort to make their house a bed and breakfast on a llama farm, with that fat lard Tina as the main attraction. (Not trying to body shame a llama there, just referencing a line from the movie. (Also using a lot of parentheses))

After an odd search to find the missing ballot box, Pedro's victory is confirmed – but the votes total 95 more than the students in the class, putting his class presidency in jeopardy.

Meanwhile, another mystery is unfolding as the first guests to stay in Kip's room are a podcasting duo intent on proving the recent death of City Councilman Doug Young was a murder. And their main suspect is Uncle Rico. I haven't read ahead but my fingers are crossed that Young is the high school coach who didn't play Rico in the state championship.

Monlongo's art is distinctive and gives the characters personality without making them look exactly like the cast or using the style of the 2012 “Napoleon Dynamite” animated series that I only just remembered was a thing. The writers capture the characters' voices well.

Some of the callbacks to the movie seem a little forced, like Napoleon's interaction with a younger student before dragging an action figure behind the school bus on a string. Uncle Rico's life advice to Napoleon devolving into regret over his scholastic athletic endeavors starts to stray into this territory as well, but, then again, it also fits with the character.

I laughed out loud several times, including when Pedro grants Napoleon's request for $1 million to outfit the school with a radio telescope and control center to monitor and greet aliens, which Deb negotiates down to $8 for pop and snacks while he uses the school telescope instead. Joana is an intriguing nemesis, rather than having Summer Wheatley herself challenge the election results. And I definitely wasn't expecting a murder mystery, but I'm curious to see where it goes.

Hopefully some of the more forced moments were in service to establishing that this is the same world as the movie, and the creators will go in more new directions as the series progresses. I plan on finding out over the next three Mondays, and I hope you'll come along for the ride.