3 out of 5

Features 3 blips from Nobrow’s youth-oriented publications – Hilda, Fantasy Sports, and Akissi – with practically zero context.  Which we know is sort of one of my requirements for FCBD deals.

To review: the point is to get books in people’s hands, first and foremost.  The second point would be to get them interested in reading more.  That second point can be abused from a financial perspective, but however it’s applied, you should give me the information I need to determine whether or not I like your series and how I can get more.  The book accomplishes the latter via the back cover, which promotes trades featuring the characters / stories we just read, but the actual content is oddly selected / presented for giving us a good understanding of what to expect.

Hilda, about the titular girl’s adventures in the fantastic city of Trolberg (unless those adventures are all in her head…?), works well enough for its entry, as they would seem to be the opening pages of the book from which they’re taken, but then there’s a total mindfuck on the last page, which seems to be a compilation page, previewing events from the book, but it doesn’t explain that at all, and then it says “To Be Continued…” on the lower right hand corner.  It’s a weird way to end it, and makes me feel like I have no idea what I read.  Luke Pearson’s art is darling, at least.

Next up is Akissi, a very cultural look at childhood in… some place where they use Francs and have names like Akissi.  Look: I watch cartoons and play video games.  That’s my life, dig?  Anyhow, while I didn’t find the strip particularly interesting or funny, it is completely self contained, so kudos.

Lastly, Sam Bosma’s Fantasy Sports.  No effing clue.  There’s a dream sequence, and then a prophecy, and then different characters wake up in a different setting.  The anime-influenced art is groovy, as is the loose lettering, and fine – it’s weird enough to have grabbed my interest to make me want to read more, so I should admit to mission accomplished for Nobrow.  …Except I have the disposable income to “try” a book; it’d be better for those without that flexibility (or for parents shopping for their kids, let’s say) if some context was provided.  ‘Cause I have zero idea what kind of story this could be.

All in all, this is far from the most sinful FCBD put out, but the sorta’ slapped together construction plus questionable printing quality that seems to have made a lot of the colors blurry knocks it down a couple pegs.