Author: Katie Cook
Publisher: Action Lab Comics
Rating: WORTHY!
DISCLOSURE: Unlike the majority of reviews in this blog, I've neither bought this book nor borrowed it from the library. This is a "galley" copy ebook, supplied by Net Galley. I'm not receiving (nor will I expect to receive or accept) remuneration for this review. The chance to read a new book is often enough reward aplenty!
This graphic novel charmed me completely. I loved it from the cover illustration onwards. It even comes with its own website!. It ran all the time along the border of being too sugary, but for me it never really slipped over sufficiently to turn me off. The author sounds like someone it would be fun to know. Were it not for the presence of the sweet young monster, I could almost believe this was an auto-biography.
In Gronk we learn of an ugly green monster who really isn't ugly or a monster, or even very scary (but who is assuredly green) and who is too sweet and pleasantly-dispositioned to live up to really monstrous standards. She leaves her world and accidentally finds her way into the author's, where she's rapidly adopted, joining the author, who lives in a rather isolated cabin with her pet cat and pet dog (who is more of a 'monster' than ever Gronk is).
From there we follow this family's daily life in a series of Sunday newspaper style comics section vignettes, as Gronk learns about he human world and how to fit into it. Why does the cat spend so much time sitting in a cardboard box? Why isn’t it wise to invite the dog into the box? Should cats be bathed daily by sitting them in the toilet and flushing it? What’s the best way to play Monopoly? Why doesn’t Candyland actually have candy? And so on! These are certainly questions I want serious answers to!
One of the strongest pluses of this novel is that it shows with heart and feeling how different people, different personalities and different outlooks can live together in harmony (aside from an occasional glitch!). I recommend it for that, and for the comfortable and pleasing artwork in full color - artwork that looks more like heart-work it's so warm and cozy. Yes, I went there. Unashamedly! The author takes a page or two at the end to offer an interesting story of how Gronk became a character and then a story. It just goes to show that doodling isn’t a problem - it’s a feature!
