The Kurdles
by Robert Goodin
Fantagraphics Books, 2015. Comic Book.
Sally Bear is thrown out of a car by her ill-behaved owner and lands in a bizarre forest community called Kurdleton. She is greeted by a posse of odd miniature creatures who live nearby. The Kurdles' problems are more important than Sally's, though -- namely their house coming down with an illness that causes it to grow thick purple fur. Sally joins forces with this band of weirdos, and in trying to solve their dilemmas, finds both new friends and a new home.
The Kurdles reads like something between a one-off comic and a graphic novel (a graphic novella?). It's an adventure that leaves the door wide open for future installments, but is immensely satisfying in its own right. Goodin's writing is dryly comic, bordering on the macabre at points, but his illustrations are gorgeously rendered in a classical ink style. It's reminiscent of classic adventure comics (think Uncle Scrooge) with a tone not unlike Baum's Oz stories or Little Nemo comics. This is a wonderful, wistful story, and here's hoping that Goodin creates more in this world.
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