Space Dumplins - Craig Thompson
Craig Thompson is mostly known for Blankets, which I haven't read. This one is about a girl named Violet who lives aboard a garbage-hauling spaceship with her father, a "lumberjack" (in this case hauling and refining space-whale excrement) and her mother, a fashion designer's assistant. When her father's deep-space fishing vessel disappears amid a crisis of — sigh — whale diarrhea, Violet sets off on a rescue mission with a fearful, erudite chicken and a small but exuberant orange alien. The art is obsessively detailed: every panel is packed full of bizarre creatures, elaborate machinery, and throwaway visual jokes. The pages burst with movement, and despite the density of detail, the storytelling is remarkably clear. The emotional core is somewhat less successful. Thompson probably means the story to be about family, grief, responsibility, and growing up, but it's also a whirlwind of episodic adventures from a child's point of view, with childish physical combat being the deciding factor in many cases. There are several comments about how the elite and the rich screw over the working class, and some examples of private school bullying, points which all land without being preachy. Beneath the eccentric creatures, cosmic junkyards, and gleeful absurdity lies a charming adventure with genuine heart. [3.5]
