More Comics Please! Issue #3

More Comics Please! is a space for comic book reviews: think of it like a friend telling you about their latest read! Today’s comics are Princess Princess Ever After, Oh Deer, and After Lambana: Myth and Magic in Manila.

Content Note: There’s a lot of use of ableist language and fat shaming in this book, as well as some questionable dynamics between the white and Black characters.

Princess Princess Ever After is a story of two princesses defying cisheteronormativity with a message of self-acceptance and radical softness.

What It’s About

“When the heroic princess Amira rescues the kind-hearted princess Sadie from her tower prison, neither expects to find a true friend in the bargain. Yet as they adventure across the kingdom, they discover that they bring out the very best in the other person. They’ll need to join forces and use all the know-how, kindness, and bravery they have in order to defeat their greatest foe yet: a jealous sorceress, who wants to get rid of Sadie once and for all. Join Sadie and Amira, two very different princesses with very different strengths, on their journey to figure out what ‘happily ever after’ really means—and how they can find it with each other.”

What Worked for Me

✦ I liked the message that it’s okay to be a fat, silly crybaby. I feel like too often in stories, there’s a desire to have a character toughen up and cry less, even for girls, and to embrace hardening up, so I liked this.

✦ There were some very pleasant visuals at times in here, such as when Princess Amira is running away on a unicorn against a pink horizon as a backdrop.

✦ I liked that the characters were given the opportunity to explore different conflict resolution styles, such as with the dancing ogre. I appreciate kids’ books that encourage children to find peaceful resolutions to things we’ve been taught to approach with unnecessary hostility.

✦ The lettering was well done, and the dialogue was very easy to follow and read.

✦ I liked that Prince Vladric is given the space to explore his desires for a different kind of life, one that isn’t bound by the high pressures to perform masculinity. I also like that Princess Amira is sympathetic AND also points out that it’s still not okay for him to treat the princesses as less than him. I thought that was a great message for young kids to read.

✦ While I had some issues with the designs that I’ll expand upon in the next section, I thought there were some nice design elements to each of the characters: Amira’s outfits, Sadie’s dragon, and Vladric’s gap teeth were all nice to see.

Spoilers follow!

✦ It was nice to see a queer relationship in a children’s book and showing them getting married so that there could be no question that they were in love. I’m always glad when I see a kids’ book not shying away from the portrayal of queer love.

What Didn’t Work for Me

✦ The art was a bit stiff for me. I feel this is partly because of O’Neill’s use of thick black line art for everything in the panels, and it could have benefitted from some variegation of line weight and color values.

✦ While I understand that not all villains for children’s books need to have tons of depth and nuance, I felt that the villain was very flat as a character.

✦ If I hadn’t been told repeatedly that Princess Sadie was fat, I would not have described her as fat lol She looks more busty than anything to me, but not fat. I would have preferred to see more significant signs of fatness: a double chin, a bigger belly, thicker arms– all would have gone a lot further in showing that Sadie is fat rather than just telling me over and over. (Side note: I hate when fat characters’ fatness is described as “big-boned” in a way to make fatness more palatable. Fat is fine, and if that’s one of the ultimate messages of the book, I think that could have been handled better.)

✦ I questioned why Princess Amira’s hair wasn’t drawn with texture. This was also true for the Prince and Amira’s mother. While Princess Amira’s hair was definitely meant to be seen as cool, I wonder what it could have meant for Black children reading this book to have seen, instead, hair that had texture like theirs and being told that it looked kick-butt. There are so many amazing Black hairstyles out there, and I think it’s a shame that the author didn’t incorporate them in to Amira’s character design.

✦ The panels were a bit crowded overall. I think the visuals could have been simplified and and easier to read with a little more variation in line weights and in decreasing the amount of detail and number of characters in many of the panels. I think they could have also benefitted from a more cohesive or perhaps limited color palette and a larger variety of color values.

Spoilers follow!

✦ All the ableist and fat-shaming language didn’t work for me. I understand that it was meant to highlight the villain’s cruelty, but as a fat, disabled person, I didn’t appreciate the dogged reminders that people view bodies like mine as inferior. There are other ways to show a villain as cruel without resorting to this kind of language, especially with a younger audience in mind, and I wish O’Neill had explored them instead.

✦ From the introduction of the two princesses, Princess Amira, who is Black, is very focused on the white Princess Sadie’s needs, making her feel better, comforting her, and so on. Following this, Princess Amira is shown as a character who needs to be taught compassion for others, as a bit of a more aggressive character, protecting her, and so on. Princess Amira is later kidnapped, and Sadie has to go save her. Finally, at the end of the book, Princess Amira says to Princess Sadie, “Before I met you, I totally thought I knew what a hero was. But now I can see how much I still have to learn.”

The dynamics of this relationship make me very uncomfortable. We too often see white authors portray Black characters as being more aggressive, being less kind than their white counterparts, and “in need of educating” by white characters on things like kindness, compassion, and other positive traits all while tending to the emotions of the white characters. It’s a trope that leans into racism, and it’s frankly one that I wish white authors would let die.

✦ Similarly to this issue, Princess Amira is shown feeling uncomfortable with her position as a princess and the duties that accompany it, and she’s basically told by a prince she should be grateful that she wasn’t born poor. That doesn’t sit right with me for a couple of reasons.

One, Amira has fled her home to avoid being married off. Two, I don’t like the replication of the class system in fantasy books for kids as a moral lesson. “Be grateful for what you have because you could have been born poor and had it much worse.” Perhaps we could be generous and say that this thinking was an example of what Amira left behind, but it’s used as an example of yet again how Amira is not being compassionate enough.

I don’t like that. Especially for a kids’ book.

Overall

I give Princess Princess Ever After 1 out of 5 speech bubbles: I didn’t really enjoy this, and I’m not sure that I would recommend it.

I’m a fan of K. O’Neill’s art, and I was very much looking forward to reading this book at the time I got it, but I was disappointed once I did. I can see why other people might enjoy it, but for all the reasons I listed, it’s not something I can recommend in good faith.

For what it’s worth, I do think that O’Neill improves upon many of the critiques I have of Princess in later projects of theirs, and I would encourage you to check out their other books.

How to Read It

Interested in checking it out for yourself? Here are a few ways you can get your hands on a copy!

Hardcovers provide higher royalties for writers and illustrators, but a royalty is a royalty, so go forth knowing your purchase will support them either way!

Read This Next

If you liked this, check out Leaf Lace by Ashanti Fortson, Pilu of the Woods by Mai K. Nguyen, or Snapdragon by Kat Leyh.

Oh Deer is a sweet story about anxiety and perseverance with the cutest lil grandmother deer centaur I’ve ever seen!

What It’s About

“Penelé, a young baker running her bakery stall, finds out there’s a new competitor in town. She makes it her mission to get ahead but things take an unexpected turn with a strange old lady and a red flower.”

What Worked for Me

✦ The art style is dainty yet impactful with its delicate line work and lots of airy space that plays well with light. Peroroh also made excellent use of texture, composition, a largely grayscale color palette, and flow.

✦ I love the grandmother figure in this story! In fact, I love all of them, but the grandmother one particularly delights me with her nonchalant manner while barging in and making herself at home in other’s lives.

✦ Peroroh has a lovely way of showing expressions.

✦ The story itself is very sweet and relatable, and as someone who struggles with similar anxiety issues as Penelé’s, I always welcome stories that remind me that we can always try again.

✦ The environment and the world itself felt well formed, like I had just stepped into a place that had its own flow and history.

✦ I loved to see Black deer centaurs! That’s something I would love to see more of!

✦ Even though it was a short comic, the characters felt well rounded and believable in the ways they interacted with one another and their emotions.

✦ I love a story that encourages us to give each other and ourselves another chance, to keep trying, and to see the best in one another. Makes me cry every time 🥲

✦ The lettering and speech bubbles were really well done! Easy to read and placed in a way that felt very natural to move from one to the next.

What Didn’t Work for Me

✦ There were just a few panels that felt a bit rushed, but that doesn’t bug me much, to be honest; it was just noticeable.

✦ I was a little confused when Penelé woke up startled; I thought at first that the sequence just before it had been a dream, so it took me a few moments to understand what was going on. I wouldn’t say this was a big issue, though.

Overall

I give Oh Deer 5 out of 5 speech bubbles: I really loved this comic– please go read it so we can talk about it!

It’s a heartwarming read about dealing with anxiety and giving ourselves and others another chance to show up as our best selves and try again!

How to Read It

Interested in checking it out for yourself? Head on over to Peroroh’s Ko-Fi page for a digtial copy!

Read This Next

If you liked this, check out Taproot: A Story about a Gardener and a Ghost by Keezy Young, The Little Scientist by Caroline Hu, or Date Night by Filipa Estrela.

Content Note: The book contains brief nudity, murder, mentions of depression and suicide, terminal illness, loss of family members

What It’s About

After Lambana: Myth and Magic in Manila is a story of healing and making up for past regrets set against a backdrop of rich Filipino folklore and vibrant illustrations.

What It’s About

“Lambana–the realm of supernatural fairies known as Diwata–has fallen, and the Magic Prohibition Act has been enacted. To add to his troubles, there’s something wrong with Conrad’s heart and only magic can prolong his life. He teams up with Ignacio, a well-connected friend who promises to hook him up with the Diwata and their magical treatments–a quest that’s not only risky but highly illegal!

On the shadowy, noir-tinged streets of Manila, multiple realities co-exist and intertwine as the two friends seek a cure for the magical malady. Slinky sirens and roaming wraith-like spirits populate a parallel world ruled by corruption and greed, which Conrad must enter to find the cure he seeks. He has little idea of the creatures he will encounter and the truths to be revealed along the way. Will Lambana spill its secrets and provide the healing balm Conrad needs? Or will he perish in the process?

Fans of Neil Gaiman, Emil Ferris and Charles Burns will love this new graphic novel!”

What Worked for Me

✦ I think this was a great example of how well an author and artist can work together. Each of their strengths was on display here, and they clearly have a good understanding of how the other works and how to rely on the other’s abilities to tell the story.

✦ The art was wonderfully loose and free, and it used a variety of color palettes to aid the visual storytelling that I thought was really successful in both creating a visual language to help us immediately understand the settings of each and to also create an almost psychedelic feeling that suits the feeling of mythology come to life very well.

✦ The story was rich with figures of Filipino folklore; I really enjoyed the explorations of the Diwata and the dynamics between not just the humans in the modern day world but also with the sirena, the hierarchy of the royal family and Diwata, and also within their own family. The author is really skilled at giving us enough information at each stage of the story to establish what and who the Diwata are and allowing the details to progress as the story unfolds instead of overwhelming us with a lot of information all at once. It felt at once like a familiar yet modern fairy tale and an unspoken invitation to learn more about the folklore of the Philippines to those of us unfamiliar with it.

✦ The panels and lettering were really well done, and they gave the story a good sense of flow. The artist has a deft hand with the placement of the balloons within the composition of each page and panel, balancing it so that the art is still the main focus while ensuring that the text is easy to read, which is something I really admire. There were a few pages where the panels and speech bubbles were particularly striking such as on pages 68 and 157.

✦ I loved the exploration of trying to right wrongs, knowing you can never truly undo the damage you caused but that you must do whatever you can to repair the resulting situation to prevent further harm. I enjoyed the way the author untangled the messy threads of how we can come to regret the actions we take in our most emotional moments, especially when directly confronted with how deeply we have impacted others with them. I liked how the author explored this through not just Ignacio but also through his mother’s calculated yet still emotional actions and how her choices also influenced her son’s decisions. It was a heartbreaking and beautiful moment between the two.

What Didn’t Work for Me

✦ The pacing could be a bit slow at times, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

✦ While I liked and admired the looseness of the art, the lack of consistency at times was a bit confusing in certain moments, and it took me out of the story when I had to take a moment to understand who or what was being shown.

Overall

I give After Lambana: Myth and Magic in Manila 4 out of 5 speech bubbles: I really liked this and would definitely recommend it!

It was a wonderfully layered story, rich with Filipino folklore and expressive art, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

How to Read It

Interested in checking it out for yourself? Here are a few ways you can get your hands on a copy!

Hardcovers provide higher royalties for writers and illustrators, but a royalty is a royalty, so go forth knowing your purchase will support them either way!

Read This Next

If you liked this, check out Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection, Volumes One, Two, or Three, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V, Filipe Andrade, and Inês Amaro, or In Shadows by Vincent Mallié, Bruno Tatti, and Hubert.

That concludes this month’s issue of More Comics Please! What did you think of today’s comics? Have you read any yourself? Are you itching to go check these out now? Let me know in the comments!

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*Comic creators and publishers, I do my best to get the details accurate in my posts, but if you catch a mistake, feel free to reach out to me. You can email me at hellojbeoin [at] gmail [dot] com; it’s much appreciated!