My Dead Girlfriend, Volume 1

Just had a Plain Janes moment. Wright only wrote one in what was surely a planned series and I'm so mad because it's great. Super fun, hilarious and great art. Yes, I know he's had sucess with Frankie Pickle series but this makes me wish so hard there were more. ( )

From Anna, age 10: I gave this book 4 stars because I've never read a book that gets 5. Read this book if you like gothic romance, but are still young. I like this book because it has like everything I love in it - like dead people and love and stuff. ( )

Summary: Finney Bleak has a family history that's going to be hard to live up to - all of his ancestors have died in improbable ways, and then stuck around for family game night. High school's no better, full as it is of Aberzombies, potion-pushing witches, and (literal) Deadbeats. Even the girl that Finney met at a carnival never called him again. But in Finney's world, even death isn't a barrier to the power of a teenage crush...

Review: This was cute, and a fun enough read, but ultimately I was left unimpressed. I think most of my problem was that not enough happened; 5/6th of the book is introduction and set-up, a substantial worldbuilding infodump, and the titular dead girlfriend doesn't show up until near the end. I get that it's a first volume in the series, but even so, it didn't have much of a plot arc (other than "Finney mopes around about how hard life is until the ghost of a girl he had one date with shows up"). There were definitely some funny bits, and I like the idea of the world Wight's created, but I don't know if I'll continue with the series (especially since there is no Vol. 2 out yet, or even on the horizon) - not enough happened in this volume to really get me interested in where the story's going next. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: It's a neat concept, but the story barely takes off before the book ends, so unless more installments are published, I'd give this one a miss. ( )

The art is pretty cool. I like Eric Wight's loose and free style of art. He brings a gothic sensibility to the art while maintaining the 'normalcy' of main character Finney. So that's good.

Story's a little weird. Not bad. Boy falls in love with girl he spends a few hours with at the fair, but never sees girl again and he's depressed for several months until the girl gets around to revealing she's dead but she's been stalking Finney for months. That's...silly. Finney's classmates at his high school are Frankenstein monsters, vampires, werewolves and the like. Sure, why not? Instead of passing down the DNA chain intelligence or atheticism, Finney's family tree dies spectacularly. That's kind've a cool curse to try and overcome.

But ending on a cliffhanger and TP cancelling the series before the second volume is released?

LAME. ( )

A darkly cute collection of a comic series that follows Finney Bleak who's the most normal kid at a school full of monsters. The art style resembles some of the newly made cartoons from Cartoon Network and Nickolodeon with a mix of humor and knowing humor that would be recognizable to someone who enjoys Foster's Home for Imaginary Creatures. Though the presentation of the comics in a manga format from TokyoPop sends a slightly confusing message in terms of who would enjoy reading it because the art style is quite American as is the humor.

The publishers are doing their best to appeal to a number of audiences and the story has some cute elements as Finney finds a girl who seems perfect until he discovers she's a ghost just like most of his family. This is truly the greatest issue faced in this comic, which makes it a good read for any range from late elementary school to early high school due to the comic take on violence. Overall this is a nice addition to the world of goth and supernatural works for young readers but slightly confusing in terms of the style combined with how its published. If it was presented in a true comic book format instead of a fake manga one, it would be easier for it to reach its possible audience of guys. ( )