COMICS: Kids stuff

Two of the most entertaining comics trade paperbacks I've recently purchased are intended for kids (or "all-ages," as is the current preferred term), which either says something about the entertainment level of the adult comics world today, or about my level of maturity. Or both.



The first, and the one probably more likely to be read by adults than children, is Peanutbutter and Jeremy's Best Book Ever!, by James Kochalka, creator of some other comics very much not suitable for kids. I could read this one every day. Peanutbutter is a cat who thinks she's an office employee; she wears a hat (a baseball cap on casual Fridays!) and a tie, she calls her owner "Boss," and she spends her days processing (sleeping on top of) paperwork with silly names like the Flibbledibble File.



And Jeremy is the mean and egomaniacal crow who lives outside her window, and keeps trying to steal her hats. Peanutbutter is trusting and naive, and Jeremy is sly and selfish, yet Peanutbutter generally comes out on top -- she even "tricks" Jeremy into being her best friend. Awww! Jeremy might be a little too mean for younger kids -- when Peanutbutter gets her hat stuck on her head, Jeremy's plan is to use his gun (!) to shoot it off. But that little bit of edge keeps the stories from being too saccharine sweet -- in fact, they're just the proper amount of adorable. Yes, I said adorable!



The other book is Grampa & Julie: Shark Hunters, by Jef Czekaj. Anyone looking for true absurdity can start here. Julie and her Grampa are on the trail of Stephen, the biggest shark in the world. Along the way they meet an underwater colony of sea monkeys (the primate kind of monkey), the world's worst rapping squirrel, a boat load of corporate pirates (their weapons are charts and graphs, until Grampa teases them so much, they make him and Julie walk the plank), a helicopter flying granny, a mad scientist alien, and, oh, everything. There's a funny (both strange and ha-ha funny) dream logic propelling these adventures, as if they were actually being told by a child: the alien has mercy on Grampa & Julie because Julie blesses him when he sneezes; the sea monkeys (or "ocean monkeys," as one of them insists) help Julie because she opens a jar of peanut butter for them. The artwork is simple but weird (one eye on each character is alarmingly distended), and the bizarre creativity of the book honestly kept me fascinated: here's a writer who remembers what it was like to have a child's imagination, yet can make his stories appeal to adults as well.