i have been a secret fan of graphic novels and manga for years. i have been able to hide my little secret easily because it was just something to read with our kiddos, but when the kid is 17 it becomes a bit difficult to convince them reading with momma is fun. so it was either give up the graphic novels or own up to the truth-i love graphic novels! Some graphic novels are great due to their art, some are great because of the story line and the characters, then there are the rare gems where both the art and the story mesh together so well it is impossible to imagine one without the other. jenn myers has created the rare gem in all the growing things.
maude is a cranky, grey-haired, stoop-backed older woman doing her thing weeding the garden and cussing out the feral cats when she ran across a new invader having a go at her botanical zendom. in her attempt to eradicate this crittery enemy she free falls into a world living beneath the plot of earth she diligently tended. when maude hit the ground underground she saw a workforce-humans and creeper crawlers working together.
maude decided to go further underground in search of the grub-like creatures. on the way through the labyrinth of tunnels maude sees familiar faces, faces from the world on the surface. the deeper she traveled the more gaunt and hopeless the workers looked. she was shocked to see a helpful homeless man named texy. he had helped maude reroute gutters to provide water to her garden. to see texy in the condition he was in shocked maude, and it fueled her to keep truckin’ until she found out what was sending those grubs up to eat her garden. maude found many things: her worst enemies the cats were her greatest ally, texy was a kaboom expert in a robbery gang and he blew up a city, a shovel is a fantastic weapon and the only way to get rid of your past is to fight through it.
the graphics in the book are outstanding; they tell more of the story than the words. everything has an expression. while maude is battling the grub-things, from frame to frame, the movement is visual: the grub falls a certain way, maude’s posture moves into the correct position. at one point maude and texy are attacked by, what i imagine are, the ghost of those people he killed. these particular enemies looked like human leeches with gaping mouths full of pointy teeth, and although they have no other facial features, just mouths and eyes, jenn somehow gave them unique expressions. the grub things look gross. maude looks like an old lady who has permanently locked her face in that “you damn kids get off my lawn” face, but if you were to touch her skin it would be velvety soft. texy has a look of blankness, and then looks like a man made of leather. the tunnels look damp, dank and foreboding.
reading this book has made me so happy! i see something new every time i flip through it. jenn myers made an old lady a hero, cats with frontal lobes, magical plants and maze into new experiences of the past. i will be starting on part two in the near future!
a graphic novel part one:
maude by jenn myers
a review
by grace