I had no idea what Bee and PuppyCat was, and now I love it. My first experience was on page one of this collection of surreal, short bits and pieces that lack your traditional, story-structure focus, yet drive boldly ahead into a world of self-aware, anime-style cuteness and Adventure Time-style tales. Natasha Allegri (Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake – See? See?) has created this strange, idiosyncratic, quirky world revolving around a girl named Bee who is a temp worker for a magical, talking computer screen in a sort of limbo, and her magical pet-friend who is a puppycat and who is hilarious. They are sometimes sent to do strange jobs, they are sometimes just lollygagging about, they are sometimes merely on the page to make you laugh, and it is charming and quite funny.
Your young child will devour this. My adult girlfriend would devour this. I devoured it. Imaginations are allowed to run free without having to apologize. This is the type of book I would buy my kids. There really are no lessons to learn, no beginnings, middles, and endings – in fact, some of the stories in this volume simply don’t finish, and others refer to stories that aren’t there. It feels like a best-of collection from the webseries.
Popular indie artists and writers stop by to offer their take on these two oddly loveable characters, which means this collection truly is all over the place! In the best of possible ways. You don’t have time to get bored, because they are exploring all having a laugh and a half.
The art, from beginning to end, is whimsical and absurd. The coloring, the lettering (especially!) which feels like it was created specifically for this comic, everything. The book begins with the most abstract and strangely delightful dream, and you never quite feel like you leave it.
Plus, interesting, female-driven series or stories I feel are welcome in this day and age, especially if the girl in the comic doesn’t look like a Barbie but feels like you might meet her in everyday life.
A real pleasure reading.
I look forward to the emoticons on Facebook! SRSLY!
