April Malig recommends Bee & Puppycat #2
Bee and Puppycat from Boom Studios is the comic counterpart to Natasha Allegri (natazilla)’s online animated series of the same name, and like the show, is completely and utterly charming. Fans of Adventure Time will recognize Allegri’s name as a storyboard artist for the show as well as her work on the gender-swap series, Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake. Like Allegri’s previous series, Bee and Puppycat features a heavy dose of fun surrealism, wittily written characters, with a side of magical girl-style action.
In this comic, Bee (a human woman) and Puppycat (a puppy? cat? or both?) travel through a magical dreamscape called Fishbowl Space in search of… employment via Magical Temp Agency. Bee, like most wayward 20-somethings, hops from job to job to survive while Puppycat, well, really wants to buy a sweet pair of platform heels. This issue features the duo setting off to repair a magical music box on a snowglobe-shaped planet, but, as always, things are more complicated than they seem.
The comic as a whole succeeds at multiple things at once, it is both intelligent and kid-friendly, relatable yet odd, goofy with hints of a greater depth. Oh, and I didn’t even mention how beautiful the artwork is (drawn by Allegri herself, with colors by Patrick Seely and letters by Britt Wilson). Allegri, as well as the team of fresh new comic artists also contributing their talents– co-writer Garrett Jackson, Madeleine Flores (madeleineishere) and Becky & Frank (beckyandfrank) – have created an immersive (also, this issue features music via QR code, how cool is that?) mysterious world with great characters while also being laugh out loud funny. Fans of the animated series as well as newcomers of all ages should read this comic (and then, like I do, eagerly anticipate future issues).
[Read Bee & Puppycat #2 on comiXology]
For fans of: female leads, cute, humor
April Malig is a digital editor and cartoonist who loves candy.