Andi Watson

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

Adorable, sweet, poignant, beautifully done. Paris is a modern romantic fable to rival anything produced in the last twenty years (and perhaps longer!). Simon Gane's raw, impressionist art style lends exactly the right tone to the tense undercurrents of Deborah and Juliet's relationship, and gives Paris itself the wildness, vivacity, and charm that is required for an epic--but daintily life-size--tale of impossible love.

As soon as I finished reading this one I forced everyone in arm's reach show more to read it too. They all adored it. show less

This sequel was just as fun and charming as the first. Be aware that a major plot doesn't get resolved, but it just opens the way for a third book. I'm enjoying this series so much! And it looks like we're getting an anti-hero in this series, too. the sister ogre is getting some character development

I also love how affirming and supportive Punycorn's friend group is. They're not name-calling and putting each other down.

This was... interesting. Andi Watson's art style was a bit reminiscent of Quentin Blake which was a plus for me; it felt familiar which clashed with the slightly surreal, very frustrating plot in a satisfying way. I did enjoy the vague ending: it feels like Fretwell could still be wandering around ordering steaks and tea and selling no books on his book tour of purgatory forever. Kafkaesque is a good way to describe this for sure. 3.5!