Two outsider teen girls become mates in Ethiopia and get involved in an arbitrary conflict between lions and hyenas because Lion King! Also mythical talking monster hyena for reasons…?
Little Girls is crap because Nicholas Aflleje’s story is not very well put-together. I wasn’t sure who this mythical hyena thing was, why they’d come back (or from where), what they wanted, or why they were targeting these kids. Similarly, I’m not sure why the girls were involved in this mystery or why they made it their business - because that’s what kids do, I guess? Hmm.
The girls never felt in any real danger anytime, all of the characters were flat and uninteresting, the story didn’t feel like it had a point nor did it really go anywhere (beyond the predictable good triumphing over evil cliche). I think Aflleje tried at the very end to hint that it was a metaphor for the Eritrean-Ethiopian war but, if that’s what it was, it went way over my head (and likely will everyone else reading this who doubtless know nothing about that conflict)!
Sarah Delaine’s art reminded me of Locke & Key artist Gabriel Rodriguez’s style and I liked it a lot. The hyena monster’s design was genuinely spooky and the hyena body language was convincing and natural-looking.
Maybe if the story were more focused this’d be a good comic but, as it is, Little Girls is largely boring and forgettable.
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