As I mentioned when I wrote about 2014 Best American Comics, I’m challenging myself to seek out new graphic literature. I don’t remember where I first came across Liz Climo’s The Little World of Liz Climo, but it’s well drawn, hilarious musings of Climo.
What stood out to me was that the animals (which are her characters in this work) seem so innocent, yet they aren’t naive. One of my favorites was a scene with barnyard animals gathered around the barn door. In the top corner is a spiderweb with “asshole” writing into the web and the caption reads something like, “When Charlotte and Wilbur have a fight.” Who doesn’t love a good joke based on a classic children’s book?
Ironically, the day before I read this one of my coworkers showed me that horribly catchy “Narwhal Song” YouTube video. And Climo apparently has caught on to narwhal fever. In one scene, Dolphins are bouncing (with their snouts) a beach ball and one of them quips that they have to keep it away from the narwhal, for obvious reasons. Then there’s the narwhal who thinks he’s Don Juan and has a piece of mistletoe hanging from the bottom of an iceberg. A female dolphin happens by and the narwhal quips about his luck. It’s left to us to understand the she-dolphin’s look of dismay.
Once again I’m glad that I’ve ventured into the world of graphic literature. Pictures are worth a thousand words so how much more are those pictures that are accompanied by words?
