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COURTNEY CRUMRIN & THE NIGHT THINGS #2
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Oni Press
Writer/Artist: Ted Naifeh
Editor: Jamie S. Rich
Price: $2.95 US/$4.50 CAN |
As we all know, adolescence can be a horrible time in life, mainly because one finds oneself stuck in a limbo between childhood and adulthood. The body is screaming out, desperately grasping to achieve some semblance of maturity, while the emotions remain fragile, intense and uncontrolled. Naifeh has tapped into that sense of personal purgatory with this supernatural story, achieves an excellent balance between innocence and darkness. I am really digging on this bizarre story, and I hope that this initial limited series won't be the last we see of Courtney Crumrin.
After a few weeks at her new school, Courtney Crumrin starts to feel pretty lonely. She turns to her great uncle's library of the occult for a solution to her problem, and a faerie glamour seems to fit the bill. Of course, it works perfectly... too perfectly, as Courtney quickly remembers that she doesn't much care for the trust-fund babies at her school.
Naifeh's design for the title character sums up the dichotomous nature of the book perfectly. Courtney boasts a cute, innocent look, but the unnatural appearance of her near featureless face is a bit disquieting, especially when contrasted with those around her. His work still boasts a strong Dan (The Nocturnals) Brereton influence that reinforces the supernatural tone of the story. Naifeh also has a nice Village of the Damned, creepy Aryan thing going on with Gareth, the popular, arrogant kid whose eye Courtney catches.
For all of the subtle creepiness of this book, there are also some touching moments. It's quite easy to relate to Courtney and her loneliness as we see on the first page, and that's why her developing connection with Uncle Aloysius is so satisfying. I also love that Courtney isn't saccharine sweet. She's got her nasty side, and though she's the heroine of the book, she's not entirely likeable either.
On the surface, Courtney Crumrin seems like a somewhat derivative book. Young girl, supernatural elements... kind of has a Harry Potter thing on the go. But there's a nasty side to the book that sets it apart. The more intense moments in the story, combined with Naifeh's deliberately skewed sense of design, makes for a quietly unsettling read. The writer/artist has developed an odd sort of children's fantasy fiction that is most definitely not for children.
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