The French. What is it they put in the water over there? French people (and Belgians) can DRAW. MiniKim takes the best energetic manga style and superimposes it onto meticulously-drawn settings that incorporate believable volumes, texture, and architecture. Good old-fashioned draftsmanship plus sweeping, pretty, cool-looking characters. NICE.
And then this art was colored to within an inch of its life by a kawaii-loving woman who goes by Pop. The lines are colored, skies are colored and clouded, highlights and shadows are deftly applied, and the color palette is delectable. Teals, pinks, plum, lovely oranges from burnt to sherbet - it's like a candy shop you'd never want to leave, not too sweet.
My library has this shelved as juvenile, but it's been nominated as a Best Graphic Novel in the Cybils Awards in the Teen category, which might make more sense, given the vocabulary and the persistent loneliness experienced by Nola as she is consistently ignored by her mom.
The story, by Mathieu Mariolle, is quick and funny, maybe a trifle scattered, but this is the first in a series after all, and is a translation to boot. Quite nice.
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