Whenever a mystery needed solving in the small coastal town of King’s Hill, kid detectives Friday Fitzhugh and Lancelot Jones were always on hand. Then they grew up and Friday admitted her feelings to Lancelot - and inadvertently ruined their friendship. Now she’s back on Christmas vacay from college and a supernatural mystery is plaguing the town - but will the two be able to get past their awkwardness to find out who the White Lady is?
Ed Brubaker goes all YA-y in Friday with Panel Syndicate regulars Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente. And, though I’m a fan of these creators, I didn’t think much of this one unfortunately.
I never dug Enid Blyton so I’m not predisposed to enjoying what is essentially a homage to those kind of kid’s books (Famous Five, etc.) in Friday. But also both storylines aren’t very substantial or gripping either. It’s mostly about Friday mooning over her friendship/feelings for Lancelot (these twee names - ugh) which is bo-ring!
There are some supernatural goings-on but it’s not much more than hinted at so it’s unclear what it is or why we’re meant to care. I enjoyed the witch/hallucination sequence though.
Marcos Martin’s art is really good, as are Muntsa Vicente’s colours, with lots of pretty snow-laden rural vistas and woodland scenes. The faux book cover designs are also cute. Friday and Lancelot’s character designs are strange though - their heads are distractingly wide and flat so they look alien for no reason!
Besides the art and a couple of scenes, there’s not a lot here to recommend Friday, Book One: The First Day of Christmas. It’s a weak, unengaging and underwhelming kid’s comic that even fans of Brubaker’s might struggle to find the least bit compelling.
No comments:
Post a Comment