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THE RETURN OF ALISON DARE, LITTLE MISS ADVENTURES #3
Recommended (8/10)
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Oni Press
Writer: J. Torres
Artist: J. Bone
Editor: James Lucas Jones
Price: $2.95 US/$4.50 CAN |
Torres and Bone offer up another delightfully fun and light adventure, but what interested me the most about the book was a quiet, more thoughtful scene that will be of interest to many parents and children alike today. In other words, Torres deals with divorce. He offers an optimistic look at how the situation can work, but he does so without sugar-coating it.
Alison Dare arranges for a family picnic at her mom's museum as a surprise for her parents, though the proposition doesn't work nearly as well for her folks as she'd hoped. Her timing proves fortuitous, though, as an old enemy of her mother's turns up to once again pilfer her archaeological finds. Alison's quick thinking, sweet ammunition and a visit from another exciting member of the Dare family all add up for a great adventure.
J. Bone is clearly an artist, like many others, who was inspired by the work of Bruce Timm's style and design work on Batman: The Animated Series and subsequent series. Unlike other artists, though, the Timm influence serves only as a foundation for something more. Bone has definitely developed his own unique style. It's lighter than Timm's, but just as effective at storytelling. He conveys the youth and innocence of the title character and her friends, but he also captures the Indiana Jones-like sense of pulp-comics adventure.
I really didn't see where Torres was going with his prologue flashback sequence, but it soon all came together. There are a number of different facets to the script. One is the reappearance of Alison's cool super-spy uncle, the other a baby theme which touches on the relationship between Alison and her mother, the typical adventure plot with the two-dimensional villain and finally a subtle but touching look at the changing face of the modern family unit. It makes for a rich read.
It's that latter element -- the unfortunate reality of divorce in a child's world -- that struck me as the strongest aspect of the book. To be honest, I wish there had been more of it. Torres handles the topic quite well. Of course, that comes as no surprise, given how often the concept of family turns up as a theme in his work. Just look at Siren and The Copybook Tales, both boasting strong family elements.
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