No, I'm not reading someone's actual diary. This is another graphic novel that I have picked out for this week. BACKGROUND:
This is another blind read-through. None of that prior knowledge shenanigans for this week. THE WRITING: The comic follows the life of Amy von Brandt, a 14-year-old kid studying in an all-girls school. Her experiences are that of your stereotypical teenager: petty disputes with friends, thinking about boys (yuck), and dealing with school and home life. Nothing too outrageous. Amy herself goes through a lot internally. From feelings of isolation from everyone else, to dealing with her grief, and feelings of infatuation and heartbreak, she definitely goes through a rollercoaster of emotions. Of course, the matters that cause her to feel all this may seem trivial and childish to those of us who are older, but despite that, there's still some depth to how she processes these emotions in diary form (even if her moment-to-moment expressing of them isn't). Though not the focal point of the story, I found her occasional moments contemplating the loss of her father (who had died years ago) rather profound. My experience is similar in that I lost my own dad at around the same age, so this aspect really resonated with me. While the main character of the story is very much Amy, two other characters stand out as significant in her life. The first is her mom, who is dealing with grief in her own way (again, something I'm familiar with), but is otherwise your regular caring mother. The other is Kat, Amy's best friend, whom she spends most of her time with. The book focuses a lot on Amy's relationship with the latter, as their friendship dynamic is upended when Kat starts dating, and again when Amy herself finds a boyfriend. This, I do not relate to. Outside of that, you get short slice of life scenarios, like Amy getting in trouble at school, or casual conversations with her mom. Again, nothing too exciting, but I found some of these moments relatable. Though this is a book supposedly aimed at kids, I was pretty shocked at some of the more mature terms used in the writing. It's not expletive-filled or graphically obscene, but there were a couple of instances where I found the choice of words.... questionable. THE ART: The art style is pretty simple: cartoony vibe, clear black outlines, flat colors, minimal shading, not too much detail. Though it won't impress in intricacy or uniqueness, it's still quite well done for what it is. The way the faces are drawn definitely remind me of old cartoons I used to watch, but I can't quite name one that is really reminiscent of this comic's style. Where this book really shines is in its overall presentation. Most of the story is told in comic form, but there are plenty of sections where it shifts to writing, as if you were actually reading someone's diary off a notebook. The book uses these in place of your usual caption boxes, and it works really well. You even see doodles, highlights, scribbles, and taped pieces of paper in these sections, further adding to the stream-of-consciousness vibe of a diary. Another thing I found noteworthy was this comic's unique way of depicting its panels. As opposed to the usual rectangular panels dividing the comic into neat little sections, the panels aren't clearly marked. Instead, the divisions are simply where the background colors end, which is a contrast to the interior art (which has outlines for nearly everything). This leads to some interesting "panel" shapes, as some of them become more irregular to account for elements in the scenery, or are done in a way that adds depth to a scene (e.g. extending the floor). There are even instances where the shape is changed to fit in within the context of the scene (e.g. heart shape for lovey-dovey moments, blurry edges for flashbacks). It's not a prominent aspect in the overall visuals of the comic, but I found it quite interesting. VERDICT: Amy's Diary contains pretty much what you expect from the chronicles of a 14-year-old: teen drama, puppy love, and all the slices of young life you could want. There's a few profound moments here and there, but overall, it's definitely a read aimed at preteens and older. It won't rot your brain if you're my age and you read it, but don't expect it to blow your mind. Also, if you're particularly averse to teen romance stories, you might wanna steer clear of this one. Here's the book on Comixology: https://m.comixology.com/Amys-Diary-Vol-1-Space-Alien-Almost/digital-comic/733806?ref=c2VhcmNoL2luZGV4L21vYmlsZS90cmFkZUl0ZW0 - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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