Written/Created by Madeleine Holly-Rosing
Art by Emily Hu
Cover Ink and Colors by Gloria Caeli
Colors by Gloria Caeli and Fahriza Kamaputra (Chapters 1 – 3)
Lettering by Troy Peteri (Chapters 1 – 3, 5 & 6)
Lettering by Shawn Aldridge (Chapter 4)
Let me start off by saying I’m a huge fan of period pieces and historical fiction. Pick just about any time in history and there are so many things to focus on that are very interesting. In particular things that relate to the United States interest me because of the vast number of historical characters and the fact that it’s my country. History has given us a world full of people that are; interesting, impressive, dynamic, compelling, fascinating, impressive, and so many other things. Holly-Rosing is clearly a fan of the time period she sets her world in and she uses historical figures in the story but she doesn’t rely on them as main characters. She sets her world and main characters around 1985 and drops little nuggets of historical fact in her writing; some things are small like mannerism, but others are larger and much more noticable like dialect of Ms. O’Sullivan, one of the main characters that is of Irish decent. Holly-Rosing’s character and personality design is pleasing and fitting for the time it’s set in. I feel like it gives a more authentic feel and in the end it sort of proves that Holly-Rosing did her research and put genuine effort into making it as real as possible. As I said before their are historical figures in the story and their parts are interesting but how Holly-Rosing overshadows them with her own characters is done so well that I almost forget about the others historical significance.
Hu’s art is a wonderful mix and I feel like I see representations of several styles; manga, classical comic book, and new school comic book. I see manga and new school when I look at the character physical design but I also see a touch of the classical styles, especially in the background and clothing of the characters. Each character is so beautifully unique it’s not just a joy to read it’s also a joy to watch the characters from page to page. I feel like Hu’s style is nothing short of excellent but the way Caeli and Kamaputra have a gift for accentuating and emphasizing different situations gives me a feel for the mood of the book and is every bit as important as the design and look of the characters. Caeli and Kamaputra have a few different instances of lighting that really masterpieces on the page. Lettering can be really a really tough job, if done well it may not be noticed, if done wrong it will be pointed out forever. One thing that hard to do is to do something different and still be done professionally. Peteri and Aldridge have accomplished just that, they did something different in the color of the word balloons but they still made it blend in and look normal. Overall the art styles fit well and the capping off of colored word balloons just adds to the uniqueness of the book.
