Elsewhere... All-Ages Comics and a Sweet Mystery

More on all-ages comics



I looked at this topic a few weeks ago through the lens of a Robert Kirkman comment. In this week's Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs, I look at it again via Skottie Young and Darwyn Cooke.

Sweets



In last week's What Are You Reading?, I talked briefly about Kody Chamberlain's awesome mystery comic, Sweets.

The Princess and the Frog

Speaking of New Orleans and capturing its flavor, The Princess and the Frog does a mighty fine job in its Disney sort of way. From the main character's dream of opening a Cajun restaurant to the fairly-tame-but-still-spooky voodoo doctor to the adventures in the firefly-lit swamp, the movie does what Disney is so good at by emphasizing the locale's magical qualities while eliminating the negative aspects.

Even Mardi Gras looks like a fun, family-friendly celebration with all its parades and costumes and no one having to show anything in exchange for beads. Voodoo isn't exactly played up as a positive thing, but there's little blood in the way the Shadow Man practices it or any disturbing trances or mind-control. It's all skull-paint and spooky shadow-creatures; living voodoo dolls and talking masks.

The story itself is pretty good. Tiana is a young girl who's working hard to fulfill her father's (Terrance Howard) dream of opening a fancy restaurant. I appreciated - as I'm sure Disney expected me to - the focus on hard work and doing your part to meet your goals. In contrast to that ideal, Tiana's childhood friend Charlotte is the spoiled - but likable - daughter of John Goodman's character, a wealthy plantation owner (the movie's set in the '20s, so slavery isn't an issue; race-relations in general are never brought up either). Charlotte's never had to work a day in her life and fully believes in wishing upon stars. Tiana's father, on the other hand, always taught her that wishing only gets you so far, a message that Tiana's taken to heart. Unfortunately, she's now in danger of missing out on important things like love and friendship by neglecting to spend time with people. The message of the movie is about balance, and I can get behind that.

Voodoo, frogs, and what didn't work after the break.

Sweets: A New Orleans Crime Story

My pal Kody Chamberlain has a new Crime series called Sweets that's coming out through Image starting in July. I've always known Kody could draw, but this is his first outing as a writer and I'm excited to see what he can do. He's from southern Louisiana too, so I'm also looking forward to seeing how well he captures the flavor of one of the coolest cities in the world.

According to the solicit:

A spree killer terrorizes New Orleans days before Hurricane Katrina makes landfall. Detective Curt Delatte just buried his only daughter, and he's in no condition to work. But when the bodies pile up, he masks his grief and joins the hunt through the bowels of the Big Easy. It won't be long until his city--and his evidence--gets washed away.

There are preview pages in that link too, so check it out.