Courtney Crumrin, Vol. 1: Courtney Crumrin & The Night Things
By Ted Naifeh
Courtney's parents have dragged her out to a high-to-do suburb to live with her creepy Great Uncle Aloysius in his spooky old house. She's not only the new kid in school, but she also discovers strange things lurking under her bed.
This one is why I'm calling these "kid-friendly (ish)" emphasis on the "ish". Courtney is a somewhat darker take on the beginning witchcraft dabbler tale, both figuratively and literally. I mean, everything is kid-appropriate, but at one point a changeling takes away a baby that Courtney is watching, and although she tries to get it back (being captured and sold herself) her uncle basically tells her in the end, "Forget about trying to get the baby back, these things happen, his parents won't even notice." And they don't! That was a more chilling story than I expected it to be. Anyway, these are set up as four short stories, all in black and white. I would have loved to have them in color, but I suppose it sets the mood. Courtney herself is an entertaining little curmudgeon. The last story finds her losing energy, only to realize she's been replaced by a doppelganger who is living her life (and doing much better at it apparently). In the final confrontation, you think that Courtney will let the doppelganger just take over since everyone seems to prefer it to her, but she comes out swinging hard with a "fuck everyone else, I'm a difficult and unpleasant person, and that's exactly how I want to be!" that completely saps the doppelganger. Good on you, Courtney. I would never want to meet you in real life, but bless your confidence.
Goldie Vance Vol. 1
By Hope Larson and Brittney Williams
Sixteen-year-old Marigold “Goldie” Vance lives at a Florida resort with her dad, who manages the place. Her mom, who divorced her dad years ago, works as a live mermaid at a club downtown. Goldie has an insatiable curiosity, which explains her dream to one day become the hotel’s in-house detective. When Charles, the current detective, encounters a case he can’t crack, he agrees to mentor Goldie in exchange for her help solving the mystery.
This one is a lot of fun to read, colorful, bouncy, basically Nancy Drew in 60s Florida, if Nancy weren't so lily white. Whereas Courtney was a loner and preferred it that way, Goldie has a colorful cast of supporting characters, including friends, enemies, potential ladyfriends, adults who seem to exist mainly for spoiling fun, and also: aliens! Yes, I was really getting into the story when it took an abrupt right turn into Martian colony weirdness. This was set up so the mini-stories merged into a longer connected story, so we'll have to see if all of the mysteries end like that. It was a little off-putting, but I (a) enjoyed the rest of it enough to keep reading and (b) can kind of see where they're going with the 60s cold war and space-focus (one of Goldie's friends wants to be an astronaut) so I will allow it for now.
The Lost Path
By
Three young boys set off from Camp Happiness, map in hand, determined to be the first to find the treasure before anyone else. But the shortcut they take leads to something far more spectacular and sinister! All manner of magical beasties live in these woods, and the kids find themselves caught between warring Forest Spirits. Will the three boys find their way out of trouble? Get your map and ready, set, go!
This was something I picked up and bought during my sojourn on Free Comic Book Day solely because of how beautiful it was, and that definitely panned out. It is gorgeous, done in multiple color and drawing styles. I would have liked something 100% in color, just because the coloring that was there was so beautiful, but, I acknowledge that (like Courtney) the black and white was an appropriate style choice for those sections - when the three boys are simply wandering in the woods. I agree with a lot of other reviewers that felt the story-line was lacking in comparison to the illustration. The story is good, but it felt oddly incomplete and only half explained. We wind up in the middle of fighting forest spirits, but it was hard to tell who was on what side and why. A crown/hat becomes a Chekov's Gun that never goes off, and when I got done, I went to look if this was intended to be a stand-alone story or not. So far it is, which is a let-down. Overall, a beautiful, but otherwise somewhat empty, little book.
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