Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen: Invasion of the Optiklons

Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen #1

by John Layman, Tom Peyer, Stephen Colbert

Bursting out from the hit Comedy Central show, The Colbert Report—it’s STEPHEN COLBERT'S TEK JANSEN! In this stunning continuation of Stephen Colbert’s critically acclaimed, yet unpublished prose novel, everyone’s favorite sci-fi hero must stand against the enemies of freedom no matter what dark planet they crawl from! This deluxe hardcover collects all ten Tek Jansen comic stories, including the Harvey Award-nominated "Invasion of the Optiklons" and "Horn Like Me"!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Humor, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

144 pages, Hardcover

First published July 24, 2007

About the author

John Steele Layman is an American comic book writer and letterer. Layman is most known for writing Chew, published by Image Comics.

Reviews

[Jason Luna]

This shouldn't be a factor in any way, but just saying, I'm a big fan of Stephen Colbert. The Colbert Report is really funny, he was really funny in Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Strangers w/candy, even the Love Guru, etc.

Also, this book sucked. It just wasn't very funny. There are some basic tangents, like how Tek is brazenly against the rules and pro-gung ho and blowing stuff up, and he mentions some times that he likes the ladies, but the lack of comedic premises and details is odd. It's like some menace from outer space wants to kill Tek or gets in his way, ALL CHARACTERS ARE BRUSHED PAST very quickly, and onto the next issue. Even Tek has a fairly bland personality. He goes against orders and follows them, but he gets there pretty directly and unmemorably.

The art is flat. And this may not bug most people, but it was kind of gross in times. The main bad guys have multiple eyeballs on their heads, at one point Tek rips the face off a teacher. It would be one thing if there was a clear plot flow or cultural/standpoint, but gross imagery mixed with plodding one-noted unsophisticated waiting around is kind of lame.

I wish they took the attitude of the "Colbert Report" shorts, where clear satirical formatting moves and sci-fi cliches from shows like "Star Trek" took over. Here it's like Tek is realistically going through the motions of being a super-successful space military spy guy.

I blame the indie writers and their attempt to build a rational Tek Jansen universe, wherein he somehow has to function as a normal BLAND person.

This book is disappointing to say the least. 1/5

[Dale]

I might have scored this book anywhere from 3.5 to 4.5 stars, so for once it's actually just as well that I'm forced to use whole stars and split the difference. The higher-end rating would come from general goodwill towards my personal preferences: Stephen Colbert in general, sci-fi in general, comics in general, sophomoric humor in general, and one specific sight gag towards the end of the book involving the Sweetest 'Stache in the Universe. The lower-end rating represents some knocks against the book for running its single-premise jokes into the ground and probably going on a bit over-long. This might have been avoided if the book had been organized differently. Originally published as monthly comic books, those newsstand issues each featured a main serialized story which continued from month to month and a backup stand-alone story. In the collection, all of the chapters of the serialized story are presented continuously, and then the backup features are presented one after the other at the end. The main serialized adventure is actually pretty slight in terms of plot, and interspresing the other random bits might have made it feel less like the same jokes over and over again. Still, the jokes all have at least a little giggle factor to them, whether making fun of sci-fi tropes or politics or non-sequitor pop culture references. Definitely a good way to while away the afternoon when home with a sick kid (who was napping at the time - the sex jokes were a bit too blatant to make good daddy-baby reading material).

[Joseph Young]

It's Stephen Colbert's character in SPACE! With gusto and bravado, he uses truthiness and a never surrender attitude to fight off all foreign invaders, with harems of women just waiting to throw themselves at him. It's an extremely juvenile take of super heroes, as if written by a horny pubescent 12-year old! I had thought the initial scene was a recreation of Darth Helmet's playing with dolls, but nope, it's the actual world of this comic! In the end, Tek Jansen ends up being right about everything, of course!

I can see this book either annoying or disheartening lots of people. Traitors all of them!

[Thom]

It is good at points but really loses its thread early and often. There are also some pretty simple typos that should have been corrected when the comics released, and if not there, when reviewing the trade paperback for release.

[Sebastian Song]

An abysmal failure not for a lack of trying. Remember this! No pages can ever contain the great exploits of Tek Jansen!

[Janelle]

I eagerly bought this a couple weeks ago when I found a copy at a convention. I love Stephen Colbert! Strangers with Candy, the Daily Show, Colbert Report, the Late Show...always hilarious. I own Wigfield and I jumped at the chance to own another Colbert-related books. I never managed to get my hands on Tek Jansen back when it published--what luck to find it now for $5!

Five bucks is about what it's worth. I'd actually begrudge even that amount if I weren't the Colbert mega-fan that I am.

The weird thing was that I didn't realize how much I'd forgotten his Report character. Tek Jansen's brazen, over-the-top attitude was nostalgic, in a way. But reading it now, this far out from the final Report episode...the book doesn't age well at all. Especially since the writers don't nail Colbert's original satirical humor, nor do they do a good job at parodying old sci-fi and comic tropes. A laugh or two are still in there, but overall it just felt like a chore to read. I can't imagine anyone unfamiliar with Colbert's old character enjoying this. It simply falls flat with its satire and parody.

[Camilla]

This comic book trade follows the exploits of Tek Jansen, a hyper egotistical, science-fiction Stephen Colbert. Oddly, I would not say that liking The Colbert Report will mean you'll like this book. It isn't really politically charged. Instead, it plays on tropes and cliches of comic books and old science fiction. So basically if you like Star Trek: TOS or superhero comic books, you'll enjoy this (provided you can laugh at some of it).

The book was a parody, but I felt like it was a good story in its own right. The art was definitely a good pick for the sci-fi feel. At times I did feel it was a little slow, but it was usually quite funny. I also wished that Tek's little romantic plotline had been finished, but you can't have everything I guess.

[Matthew Green]

I wanted to like this, but I just couldn't get through it. It just isn't all that amusing. It effectively transplants Colbert's hyper-egotistical personality into a sci-fi setting, but that is where the parallels end. Colbert's humor goes beyond that egoism, but the writers of these comics didn't seem to understand that, so everything just felt like a mediocre sci-fi adventure with an unlikable hero.

[Annie]

I very much wanted to REALLY LIKE 'Tek Jansen,' and it had it moments, but largely what could have been an awesome parody of the strips of the 1950's & 60's fell flat for me. Filled with largely backward, mind-numbing & Sexist jokes! Combined with the very average artwork and the whole package was one I'd happily could have lived without.

[Danushka]

Weird. And really not as funny as I'd imagine with Stephen Colbert involved, and not as well written and paced as I'd imagine with John Layman involved (the author of the excellent Chew series). Everything just seemed one-dimensional, and anything that did have potential and seemed interesting would go nowhere.

[Greg]

I never really liked the Tek Jansen bit on Colbert's show but I am a big fan of Colbert himself so I felt compelled to check this out. It had lots of word play and Science Fiction-y easter eggs which may have been exciting for some. For me, it was not that interesting. But now it is checked off the list.

[Elissa]

Very funny, very meta. The last case file was, unfortunately, the worst part of the whole thing, so it was a bad note on which to end. But the main storyline and most of the casefiles were lots of fun.

[Ubalstecha]

This is a hilarious take on the character created by Stephen Colbert. The graphic novel is full of Tek seducing women, being completely inappropriate with those around him. And managing to save the universe at the same time. Awesome.

[Matt]

I'm a big fan of Layman and Colbert, but, for some reason, this didn't work for me. Self-centeredness isn't really funny in this instance or not anymore.
There are some cute moments, but you're better off watching actual Colbert or reading Layman's Chew.

[Megan Anderson]

This was just bad. Even understanding that they were parodying the old-school comics of the 50s and 60s, these were just awful. Terrible writing, annoying art, just all-around a waste of time.

...And yet, still somehow better than Harry Potter.

[Sue]

So very silly. Almost every single line has to be read with Stephen Colbert's insincere, self-involved sarcasm. I think the people who don't like this are trying way too hard; this is all just ludicrous bullshit. Its funny and zany and makes no sense at all. Hoot and a half.

[Tyler Omichinski]

I usually quite like humour, and Stephen Colbert. Tek Jansen, however, was a bit of a let down. It is a short romp through being silly in a sci-fi universe while doing a send-up of science fiction tropes. It is a bit short, and I didn't find it fully satisfying.

[slightlyfoxed]

By rings around my collar, read it for the interjections!

[Kim]

Weird. And not as funny as I'd hoped it would be. But I did enjoy some of the standalones at the end.

[Lauren]

Ridiculosity.

[Earnie]

Another medium thoroughly conquered by Stephen Colbert.

[Mike]

Very funny stuff. Intelligent, witty, all around enjoyable!

[Jeretta Hall-Robinson]

What is there to say?! It's Stephen Colbert writing a comic book. Do you need more information!? Funny and made little sense.

[Erin]

Sort of like Booster Gold. Not a great comic.

[Erin]

Pretty terrible start, but eventually (like 6 books in), the comic found its voice. I wouldn't read it again, but it made for a semi-entertaining hour.

[Janta]

Sci-fi action hero silliness.