Title: Crunchy Bunches
Author: W. Scott Warren
Start Date: 2011
Genre: Parody
Update Schedule: Saturdays
Website: http://www.crunchybunches.com

Synopsis:

Have you ever wondered what life would be like in a cereal commercial? You would meet with hyperactive animated mascots who would build treehouses, thwart incompetent villains, and encourage you to become a sports champ by eating their sugary cereal, all part of a balanced breakfast.

Crunchy Bunches takes place in this world, and Munchy is the mascot of the world-beloved cereal which shares the title’s namesake. He’s been in the business for 60 years, and he interacts with other mascots and gets involved in storylines which promote the latest flavors of his cereal.

Recommended Age Group: All ages.

Strengths:

This is one of the most clever concepts for a webcomic I’ve seen in years. The author understands his material well. This comic pays homage to, parodies, and deconstructs cereal advertising all at the same time. The references are numerous and cleverly integrated into the content, providing the look and feel of actual commercials.

I also give props to the art. The expressions are wonderfully cartoony and exaggerated, and the designs properly match what I would expect of cereal mascots as I was growing up in the 90s.

Weaknesses:

As I stated in the synopsis, cereal commercials have weak antagonists by nature, and this comic is no different, so there’s practically no sense of threat in the storylines. I understand why the author did this to play up that particular trope to mimic the style of the commercials, but if you prefer to have grand epics in your storylines, you may feel a bit underwhelmed in this department.

Verdict:

I give this comic a wholehearted recommendation. This comic makes me feel like a kid again and I find the experience thoroughly enjoyable. If you’ve watched cereal commercials as a kid or tried to follow along the silly storylines that General Mills or Post attached to their boxes in order to trick the kids into buying more of their products, then I feel you would appreciate this comic as much as I am now.