Andi Watson

I somehow missed Paris when it was releasing in single issues, but I’m so glad I caught the collection.

I’ve been a fan of Andi Watson since Slow News Day and I was delighted to see this latest offering.

This is my first introduction to Simon Gane’s work, and I’m glad to have him on my radar. His style is a compelling blend of sleek vintage shapes (like Watson’s own drawings) with an added chunkier texture reminiscent almost of Mignola. It adds depth and detail to the scenes without show more overpowering the characters or the story, and I suspect I’ll find new goodies hidden in the details with every reread.

Paris is the story of two women dissatisfied with their respective destinies who’s lives intersect and are immediately enriched. Without going into too much detail, it’s a queer love story told among the backdrop of art history and 1950s Paris and if it makes you cry, at least I can promise they’ll be very different tears than the queer classic it evokes. show less

A middling fantasy story about a boy trying to get home by taking a shortcut through a dangerous forest. A strange knight agrees to guide him, but things keep going wrong. There is mild excitement and much bickering as they navigate the various beasties inhabiting the woods.

It's not bad, but it also did not do much for me.

I absolutely loved it!

This story was wonderfully-dumb. Full of charm and humor. I enjoyed the Ogre Sister and villains that weren't largely incompetent. Punycorn is sweet and kind, and his friends don't spend their time downing or calling each other names.

It's obvious the Unicorn Heroes don't appreciate or acknowledge Punycorn as a hero material, but it's balanced. They don't hate him or anything. Ending spoiler: Even Bloodgutter's character was a surprising twist. A pacifist sword that show more got to keep to its morals. I just find it refreshing the characters accept each other.

The artwork is seriously cute, and you can tell Watson put a lot of effort into including visual gags a well.

The least likely can do great things!

I can't wait to read the next book! show less

Princess Decomposia is a young princess of the underworld forced to take on duties long before her time. She has her own duties, but her father, the king, doesn’t feel quite well. Ever. So Decompsia is forced to pick up the slack and is constantly dodging others seeking her attention and is buried under a mountain of paperwork. And to top it off she has to hire a new cook as well! Luckily she hires Count Spatula, a vampire chef, that is charming as he is sweet. Both have to sort out their show more lives...perhaps they’ll be able to do so together?

In this charming graphic novel artist & writer Andi Watson, brings to life a story of friendship and perhaps even love (somewhere down the road.) While many readers may be turned off at the idea of reading a “romance” story, Watson doesn’t tell us a story of straight romance, but he instead tells us a story of two young people finding their place in the world they care for. They have a friendship that grows as they deal with the troubles of the world and maybe it does find more. But it isn’t the focus of the story. The focus is the characters and what they deal with throughout the story, including discussions on class, gender, and politics, and the story plays out like a symphony weaving together hitting high and low notes as needed. While this may sound like a lot to cram into a story Watson does it justice. With puns. Lots and lots of puns as well.

The inky black and white illustrations use sparse lines to capture the essence of the characters and show us their moods with a quirk of a slight grin on their face or their down turned eyes. But the best part of the artwork by far though are the characters. It’s rather delightful to see what form the next character will take as some are cloves of garlic (literally) and others are monsters that we’ve grown up with, just with a somewhat softer touch. Even with serious topics being discussed they provide a bit of light humor, as we learn and understand what each character goes through.

While the book discusses heavier topics, it does so with a light, deft touch that make it easier for the reader to understand and relate to the characters. Readalikes would include Three Shadows, El Deafo, and In Real Life. show less