スーパーマリオくん 3

Another volume of Mario-Kun down and it's largely the same level as the first two language-wise though there are a couple of word-game related jokes that are a bit tricky to parse. The trickiest thing about this series is it has a lot of what I call "chaos words", the kind of short, sometimes incomplete interjections that characters shout when there's a fight going or somebody's mad at somebody and those can be tricky even if they're kind of trivial in the long run.

The stories are still pretty self-contained but there's some interesting stuff going on here. The most interesting one lore-wise is a chapter where Bowser pulls out a bunch of enemies from Super Mario Bros. 3. We learn the reason they didn't appear in Super Mario World is because they failed the last time and have been put on ice (literally!) as punishment. Interestingly, Sawada draws the Mario 3 Goombas how they appeared in that game rather than the more circular style of their Super Mario World counterparts, which is how they've been drawn up to this point. These days the two types of Goomba have been differentiated, with the Super Mario World Goombas now being known as "Galoombas", but at the time I think everyone just kind of took it that that was just what goombas looked like now, so Sawada was ahead of the curve on treating the two groups as separate species.

We also get what's probably the most "that wouldn't fly in America" chapter, an absolutely unhinged bit about the Bros trying to help a lost baby Boo back to the Ghost House. At one point the Boo needs a toilet and we're treated to a lovely panel of it pissing all over poor Yoshi because it couldn't make it in time. There's also a bit where it starts sucking on Luigi's nose because wants to breastfeed and Luigi's nose is the closest thing to a boob nearby. Just amazing.

The final story is our first two-parter and marks what I think is the half-way point of the Super Mario World arc. It's a bigger, more exciting story that really feels like a good midpoint climax and there's a really interesting Super Mario Land homage that somewhat explains that game's events in the broader scope of things (and of course Luigi's doesn't know anything about it). At one point Mario spins Bowser around like he does in Mario 64, so it was kind of cool to see that technique here well before that game came out.

The art still has a ton of charm and it's clear Sawada's reached a comfortable stride by this point. The gags are fast and fresh and the artwork is still gorgeous. I think Buzzy Beetles and Spinies are becoming my favorite enemies in this series just because of how they're drawn, but really seeing Sawada's spin on the whole rogues gallery is a ton of fun. One of the mazes at the end too was surprisingly tricky so that was a nice bonus. All in all another good volume.