Disclaimer: This is a hastily written review. I will polish it in course.
My take on Amelia Rules...
Whatever it is that made the title ’Amelia Rules’ certainly makes comic book readers like me, happy. A bunch of awkward, all knowing 11 year olds and their lives full of strange activities. However trivial may certain things be to an adult, they are very important to the youngsters be it the need to acquire a park space occupied by a gang of kids who call themselves Ninjas or a self-obsessed, not so perfect Reggie and his absolutely imperfect group of Supeheroes. Whoever else could have a superhero named Pajamaman? Actually, noone. It is that cute, spectacled little guy called Pajamaman who is also known as Kid Lightning, a superhero. Heh.
Then there is this peculiar Rhonda (everything about her is peculiar, her hair, expressions, freckles, everything) who has a crush on Reggie and is constantly nasty to Amelia. A trio of girls, labeled as the ’Brittneys’ who are the fashion queens of Joe’s elementary school (where the little stars of our cast study). Our precious Amelia with divorced parents and a one-hit-wonder, suddenly famous again, rockstar aunt, Tanner. A delightful ensemble of characters. So far, so good. What does Jimmy Gownley decide to do?
He decides to fill the pages with witty dialogs that only a 10-11 year old can throw up. In What Makes you Happy, we see Amelia and Rhonda battle their urge to confess their love for Reggie (who secretly nourishes his love for Amelia’s aunt Tanner) without getting too mushy.
Then we see her try to cope with the death of her aunt Susan, whom, by the way, she never knew but everyone who did know her, seemed to be full of praise for her. Without getting too smart-alecky and at time bordering on irritating like Calvin and Hobbes or too intellectual or preachy like Peanuts, Amelia rules with a light touch.
The artwork is equally easy on the eye. Pleasant colors and all. Clever usage of the sheets, perfect placement of the texts (no dialog balloons or thought bubbles, mind you!), and Mr.Gownley even pays his tribute to the all famous comic strips virtually all of us grew on. You will catch Peanuts (Tanner’s childhood is depicted as a Peanuts like, slightly yellowed strip) or Dilbert (Tanner worked as a corporate drone, it seems).
In a nutshell, I finished the book in a single sitting. Actually, I laid back on a stack of cushions and pillows and happily read through the book. You should do that too, yes, comic book fan, you.
Note: Article also published in Saturday Post, Chennai.