A new series of blog posts for me as I share with you a range of comic books, graphic novels and webcomics which I would recommend anyone to read – beginning with the wonderful ‘Raising Amy’ comic book by Stephen White (Stref) – a 250-strip-filled comic book about a toddler called Amy who is best described as a “Scottish ginger nutcase” who also wields many weapons in her tiny hands. Below is my review on this comic book:
Raising Amy is available to buy online and I would certainly recommend to any comic fan looking for many laughs.
I got Raising Amy as a surprise Christmas present and was very pleased to have seen it when I tore it out of the Christmassy wrapping paper that surrounded it. I’m awful when it comes to buying small-press comic books – I just forget and never pick them up and end up regretting it. So to see Raising Amy inside that wrapping paper was a lovely surprise!
I started and finished reading it on Boxing Day and it certainly killed a few hours of my time – I was lost inside this insane world where toddlers create trouble worse than Dennis the Menace ever had and everything had a surreal quality to it. And I loved it.
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If there was a way to describe Raising Amy in a nutshell, I would certainly say the following:
Raising Amy is everything a humour comic book should be, it contains the surreality and humour of something which closely resembles Calvin and Hobbes however includes that familiar British twist in the humour which allows me to relate to the storylines far better. This clever way of writing when accompanied with the simple yet wonderful illustrations supplied also by Stephen White allows the comic book to flow and become a joy to read.
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One thing I really do enjoy in comic strips is the breaking of the fourth wall as it allows the artist to be a little more creative in their storylines and can allow them to be lazy and still create laughs when done right! Below are a few of my favourite examples of the silly stories which break the fourth wall:
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My only small problem with the comic book (and I mean very small) is the sudden change of font – however, I’m glad it does change as I felt the size of the font was slightly distracting – although I felt it did suit the comic strip better. But as I said, a very small problem which does not affect the quality of writing or art in any way whatsoever.
Another funny thing about the comic book is its mini-arc inside about Amy’s babysitter, Flower and “Love-Sick Dick”, the obsessed stalker who follows Flower everywhere. This makes up for some very silly storylines and also allows both to mix when Dick follows Flower to Amy’s house! There are also other silly story-arcs such as Amy’s obsession with eating worms, Amy’s chemistry set and my favourite, the monsters under Amy’s bed. All are very funny and full of perfect comic humour both modern and traditional!
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Overall, a wonderful read which I would gladly read over and over again timeless amounts – Stephen’s simplistic art style allows the characters to take centre-stage and make every story clear, quick and witty without overcomplicating the reader. Every story managed to make me chuckle and each in their own right deserve to be commended for their geniosity and originality. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it from start to finish and I would certainly recommend it to any comic lover of any age.
