Misfit City, Issues 3 - 8, by Kiwi Smith and Kurt Lustgarten

When I reviewed the first two issues of Kiwi Smith and Kurt Lustgarten's 8-issue miniseries Misfit City, I groused about the flimsiness of the plot, but felt the characters and setting made up for it. Unfortunately, as the series progressed and less of each issue was devoted to describing the town and getting to know the heroines, the weaknesses of the storytelling became more apparent.

Wilder and her friends have grown up in Cannon Cove, a small fishing town best known for the cult kids' movie filmed there in the 80s. All of them dream of bigger and better things, but when the girls get their hands on a centuries-old pirate treasure map, they realize that their small town might have more to offer than movie souvenirs and minimum-wage jobs. Unfortunately, a random assortment of villainous strangers seem to have realized that, too...

Obviously, Misfit City is a Goonies tribute, and no one loves The Goonies because of its meticulously constructed plot. Pirate adventures, cute one-liners, charming characters, and a great setting are enough to justify a lot of story, and Misfit City has all of these in spades. Still, I wish the authors had put in at least a little more effort into tightening up their plot, because the storytelling gets so slapdash towards the end I found myself wondering if the final twist was an intentional move, or a last-minute oh-yeah-we-forgot-to-deal-with-that correction.