Pros: Juggie is asexual. I find that refreshing. I love seeing characters of all the rainbow.

Cons: the dream sequence things. That's really not doing it for me. 

But this is making me really wish my library would hurry up on my Archie request.

I am in such a comic kick right now. All I want to do is read ALL of the comics! And so I decided to pick up a comic all about Squirrel Girl. I'll admit, I don't know much about the character. I know she has a huge following but I have never heard about her until the release of this comic. And I have to say I'm intrigued.

Squirrel Girl is quirky, fun, and slightly bizarre, but that just adds to her charm. It took a while of getting used to, to be honest. The first issue in this volume was just not for me. I felt like the creators were trying too hard in reaching new fans to mix in with the old. I didn't find it funny and the artwork is not my favorite. I understand why you'd want to draw Doreen with the pursed lips and buck teeth (she is supposed to be part squirrel), but when I saw every other character drawn in that style as well, it didn't seem unique at all. Just the way Henderson illustrates, I guess. Anyway, the art style is just not my cup of tea and the whole tone of the first issue left me feeling rather disappointed. I had heard that Squirrel Girl was an amazing character that goes on fun adventures and I just did not see that from the first issue.

The second issue started off in much the same way. By this point, I was wondering whether I was going to enjoy this super hero comic at all. However, by the end of the second issue, much to my contentment, the tone and the pace improved dramatically! The plot picked up and became interesting, the characters were authentically funny, and I felt the creators were able to figure out what story they wanted to tell. It became a fun story about Squirrel Girl saving the world from Galactus, who wanted to eat Earth for its life energy. The comic became a story that I found quite entertaining and I am so glad it did.

But the end of this first volume, Doreen Green (Squirrel Girl) was an interesting character with her own quirks and way of handling "villains" that I wanted to see more of. I want to see more of Squirrel Girl and Galactus just chilling and talking about life. (Trust me. It's quite a hilarious site to see.) And speaking of Galactus, he's my new best friend! His entire presence in this comic made it that much more enjoyable to me. I love his nonchalant way of speaking and his laid back attitude. Seriously, he's a great character and I hope to see more of him in the future installments.

In this particular volume, the first comic where Squirrel Girl makes an appearance is included in the back of the book. It was so interesting seeing where she got her origins from. Seeing the difference in character designs was most fascinating to me. And, although I don't really like the artwork for this comic, I much more prefer the current rendition of Squirrel Girl than her previous one. X3

In all, this was a pretty good intro to who Squirrel Girl is as a super hero. This comic takes a while to get going but once it does, it's a fun ride up into space! If you like fun, silly, and bizarre comics, then give this one a read. I'm glad I was finally able to see who Doreen Green a.k.a Squirrel Girl is!

Genre: Comedy / School / Adventure / Spin Off

Year Published: 2016

Year Read: 12/18/2016

Series: Jughead #1

Publisher: Archie Comics

 

Introduction:

After I had finished reading “Archie Volume One: The New Riverdale,” I figured that Archie Comics was going to do a reboot on one of their most beloved characters “Jughead!” So of course, I was on board with picking up the reboot of everyone’s favorite crazy and food obsessed weirdo in Chip Zdarsky’s take on “Jughead Volume One!”

What is this story about?

It is an ordinary day in Riverdale until Mr. Weatherbee, the principal of Riverdale High, is suddenly being replaced by a new principal named Mr. Stanger without any warning. At first, Jughead is not bothered by this new development, but when his favorite meal lasagna is being replaced by a nasty nutritious meal, Jughead (of course, being Jughead) panics and starts trying to find ways to bend the new strict rules so he could still do whatever he wants without getting in trouble. Later on however, Jughead soon realizes that the new principal Mr. Stanger has a hidden agenda under his sleeves that might involve brainwashing the student body into becoming the perfect school for spies.

Can Jughead stop this new principal from going through with his plans or is all this speculation about the new principal all just a part of Jughead’s overactive imagination?

Read this book to find out!

What I loved about this story:

Chip Zdarsky’s writing: I must admit that when I first heard about Jughead getting his own book for the Archie reboot, I was bit hesitant in trying this graphic novel out since Jughead is my most favorite character from the Archie Comics and I was afraid that this graphic novel would have messed up his character. Luckily, it turns out that Chip Zdarsky has written the character’s eccentric nature extremely well as this graphic novel is much wackier and more humorous than Mark Waid’s run on the main “Archie” series. I loved the way that Chip Zdarsky wrote Jughead’s overactive imaginations as helping Jughead solve his problems in real life as it made Jughead into such a comical and unique character in this new “Archie” universe. Also, Jughead’s constant reliance on his imaginations to solve his real life problems reminds me a bit of Nickelodeon/Disney’s “Doug” (although a much wackier version of “Doug”). I also like the fact that Chip Zdarsky made Jughead into a more determined character in this story as Jughead is shown as not being afraid to speak his mind about what he likes or dislikes about the new school system and tries to make things better for himself and his friends.

Erica Henderson’s artwork: Erica Henderson’s artwork is extremely humorous and fits the tone of this series nicely as the scenes of Jughead’s imaginations are drawn in exaggerated and creative fashion. I especially loved the scenes where Jughead imagines himself to be a superhero or a time traveler as those scenes are drawn somewhat more dramatically as it portrays Jughead trying to save the day from evil.



What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The reason why I took off half a star from the rating was because even though I do think that Erica Henderson’s artwork is humorous, I felt that the artwork made the characters too goofy looking and it was hard for me to really take the characters seriously at times. I actually kind of wish that the artists from Mark Waid’s “Archie” series actually took over for this graphic novel as we would have still gotten the humorous edge for this series with the artwork from the main “Archie” series.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Jughead Volume One” is a truly entertaining read if you like reading fun loving and wacky comics and if you are a huge fan of Jughead Jones! I recommend this book for anyone who wants to read a wackier series spun off from Mark Waid’s “Archie” series!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog