Adventures in Burrwood Forest
by John Lechner
Candlewick 2007
We are not amused.
This comic masquerading as a graphic novel for the emerging reader set has nothing going for it. There's no real character development attempted, no plot to speak of, and in the end has too many similarities with Smurfs for my comfort. Seriously, a land of burrs living in the forest with one token girl burr and an old papa burr. True, there is no Gargamel character, but that wouldn't have made this better.
The oddest thing is that Lechner clearly has skills as an artist, because his backgrounds are wonderful, but the main characters are little more than jagged circles, a tiny doodle any kid could have created. The comic originated online apparently and Lechner's personal connection with illustrator Peter Reynolds may hold the key as to how this landed in Candlewick's lap.
Why is this in hardcover?
Why is this at all?
1 comment:
Oh. My. God.
You're right. It WAS Smurfs in burr-form. I've been trying to figure out why it didn't grab me in the least and now I have my answer. Brilliant.
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