Are you aboard the Jeff the Land Shark bandwagon yet? - bryantpoesed

Are you aboard the Jeff the Land Shark bandwagon nevertheless?

IT's Jeff #12 excerpt (Image credit: Gurihiru (Wonder Comics))

12 issues in, and the Jeff the Land Shark comedian running along Wonder Unlimited might be the most adorable thing the House of Ideas has finished since Baby Groot.

Jeff the Land Shark is Wonder's newest solo star, coming from humble beginnings as an unnamed miniaturized shark henchman (hence boy) into becoming the star of his personal comic book series.

Jeff the Land Shark may non atomic number 4 one of Marvel's biggest stars (hitherto), but to know him is to love him. Since his debut in 2019's West Seacoast Avengers #7, the mini-megalodon has been manduction at the fringes of the Marvel Universe and has become the low-keystone scene-stealer nonparallel such as Deadpool and Gwenpool Strikes Back.

So just what is it about Jeff the Bring up Shark that has proven to be so resilient?

Jeff the Land Shark rides a wave

"Sharks that commode theoretically get you on some land and in deep-sea should be terrifying and yet he's utterly adorable," screenwriter Liam Johnson of ITV's Emmerdale tells Newsarama.

If there's a mathematical formula for cuteness in this meta-loving humans we're in now, smaller versions of scary characters are high on the cute quotient. Godzilla beget Gadzookie, Groot turned into Pamper Groot, Bowser turned into Baby Bowser, and Direct current's Jarro could only have happened subsequently the killer kaiju Starro paved the way. A recent trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife has shown this can be weaponized, with those pint-size versions of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Jeff the Land Shark is a share of that same lunar time period, but also helped by the idea of a 'Land Shark' which strikes a chord for those that remember Saturday Night Untaped's standard Onshore Shark skits from the '70s.

"I think characters like Jeff really do have a strange way of capturing the hearts of fans," co-creator Kelly Thompson tells Newsarama. "Characters that sleep in that unusual liminal quad where they almost feel like pets because of their adorable non-human features and unfitness to communicate verbally the same way man do, but that have more bureau than we would Oregon should consociate with 'pets.'"

"We're speaking the Baby Groots, the Grogus, the King Sharks, even characters alike Pan from Golden Compass maybe fifty-fifty Fizzgig from The Dark Crystal," the writer continues. "We seem to be particularly fascinated by these types of characters -- and attach quickly. I sleep with I do."

And we can't go without mentioning the 'Spoil Shark' song, one of the top memes of the nonadjacent yesteryear of 2018:

Thusly… just who is Jeff the Land Shark?

In Marvel Comics' continuity, Jeff was part of a shark army created by the classic big-headed Wonder villain MODOK during a weird phase where He called himself BRODOK. After his attempts at wooing women were rejected, BRODOK created an army of sharks genetically modified to have four legs and live call at the open air. He sent them to destroy a city in California, merely were fended off by the fittingly named West Sea-coast Avengers.

West Coast Avengers member Gwenpool took a liking to one of the bunch, which she named Jeff (after a kitten she had antecedently). The adorable land shark quickly became a part of the squad, with Gwenpool and fellow teammate Quentin Quire soft to the role of adoptive parents.

Later on the West Sea-coast Avengers disbanded and Gwenpool got pulled away into other things, she was able to see a more than spontaneous home - Monster Isle, home to various monsters going back to the youth in Marvel traditional knowledge. Jeff consort well there, particularly As he came there just as Deadpool was named 'King' of the island. You terminate imagine the rather things that would happen with that pairing.

As completely this was happening, Jeff the Land Shark slowly became a subdued cult-favorite character for some comics fans, and also some comics characters. In a modern issue of Runaways, Mollie was drawn sporting a Jeff beanie.

That idea of merchandise was made real in 2020 when Hasbro felt some apparent demand plenty to make a Jeff the Land Shark figure, as part of their Marvel Legends line. The figure was included in a pack for Shiklah, but every shark's got to start somewhere.

And while it's a popular myth that a shark dies if he stops oncoming, Marvel's Jeff the Land Shark keeps moving, as just this workweek Wonder launched an ongoing digital comics series called It's Jeff by co-creator/writer Emmett Kelly Thompson and artist Gurihiru.

"You know, the response to Jeff has been dumfounding from 24-hour interval one," Thompson says. "Like we're seeing a huge spike right now obviously since on that point's adorable new (Gurihiru!) content, but e'er since He debuted in West Coast Avengers citizenry consume been very excited about him."

For more or less fans who'rhenium asked why they're fans of Jeff, they narrate America "just take him!" - so we made destined to include examples of that here. You can catch all his appearances with just five books: West Seashore Avengers Vol. 2: City Of Evils, Gwenpool Strikes Back, King Deadpool Vol. 1, King Deadpool Vol. 2, and a brief cameo in Fearless #1.

Jeff the Land Shark is at home in the amnionic fluid of all the major digital comics platforms. Check out our recommended best appendage comic readers .

Newsarama Senior Editor Chris Double-dyed has mantled amusing book news for Newsarama since 2003, and has too written for USA Nowadays, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Period, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Chill, Comic Patronize News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, conscientious objector-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Glooming Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. Atomic number 2 has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Connection's Written Original & Comics Round Table. (He/him)