CW: mild homophobia from clearly delineated villain characters, briefly mentioned past transphobia (I think, it might have been in a later edition)
Yes, I did read this after watching the Netflix show. If you haven’t, what are you waiting for? I think it’s basically a test for androids to see if you find it adorable or EXTRA adorable.
First, a public service announcement: you cannot get just this edition, or you will be bereft as it ends on a cliffhanger (if you’ve watched the show: [it ends right when Charlie has kissed Nick at the party but before Nick shows up the next day]). Volume One and Two sort of nest together, and then Three and Four do as well (and there’s going to be a Five which will be the final edition).
A maybe unpopular opinion, but I think the TV show does a good job (perhaps a better job?) adapting the comics and the story therein. Part of it has to do, I think, with how they brought forward certain storylines and had them run parallel to the ‘main’ storyline of Charlie/Nick. All of the elements that I liked in the show come from Oseman’s work–don’t get me wrong–but they really come to life on screen.
But that aside, these books are also a joy to read. Oseman uses graphical cues to illustrate Charlie’s inner thoughts very well, a way to give us a sense of what’s going on in his head. You really get a good picture of who all the characters are, and it’s clear from the author notes that she spent a good amount of time thinking about details of each character so that they had a coherent characterization (down to the types of shoes they wear).
