LITTLE LIT‘s spirit lives on in the TOON Books imprint overseen by Françoise Mouly and her husband, Art Spiegelman. Instead of oversized anthologies, the label issues slim singles in a hardback format aptly described as cute. The publisher’s second wave of releases is comprised of Spiegelman’s JACK AND THE BOX, Eleanor Davis’ STINKY and Dean Haspiel and Jay Lynch’s MO AND JO: FIGHTING TOGETHER FOREVER.
Despite being the one clearly aimed at the youngest age group, JACK is the one I enjoyed the most. It’s fun to watch Spiegelman work in a whimsical arena, in a short but sweet comic — told horizontally — about a rabbit boy discovering and interacting with his new toy: a jack-in-the-box who creates a little mischief not unlike THE CAT IN THE HAT.
STINKY is more involved, story-wise, with the title swamp creature trying to drive out the ball-capped boy who’s moved into the nearby neighborhood and is intent on building a treehouse in Stinky’s turf. There are no depths to which Stinky will not sink, and most of them backfire royally. Although many kids will simply be attracted to the title for sheer scatalogical reasons, Davis’ sense of humor and terrific bold-lined art will give them much more to enjoy.
Finally, there’s MO AND JO. It cracks me up that Haspiel has within 24 hours, he had another book released, being the decidedly kid-unfriendly THE ALCOHOLIC. Here, he partners with Lynch on the tale of a brother/sister duo obsessed with a superhero named The Mighty Mojo, but when he retires, he entrusts his super-powered suit to them.
Mo and Jo’s mom splits and sews the outfit into two, thus allowing both kids to become do-gooders — one acquires stretching skills, the other magnetic. They fight a lot between the two, which is good training when they’re forced to save the city against a crocodile-like creature named Saw-Jaw.
Being written for slightly older audiences, the wish-fulfillment fantasy of MO AND JO is the most story-driven of the bunch, seeming like a junior version of THE FANTASTIC FOUR with half as many heroes, but twice the bickering.
For stories that are 40 pages at the most, $12.95 a pop seems a little heavy, but the sturdy, classy presentation has to account for some of that. With a uniform look, these carry a considerable appeal for collectors of all ages, as well as those looking to introduce their kids to the joy of reading comics. There are fewer gateway drugs as attractive and delightful as these. —Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF ART SPIEGELMAN:
• BIG FAT LITTLE LIT edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly
• BREAKDOWNS: PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG %@&*! by Art Spiegelman
Related posts:
- Jack of Fables: Jack of Hearts
- Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!
- Jack of Fables: The Bad Prince
- Jack of Fables: The (Nearly) Great Escape
- Now and Forever
