Friday, May 1, 2015

Unicorn on a Roll (review)


Unicorn on a Roll: Another Phoebe and Her Unicorn Adventure (Heavenly Nostrils)
Author: Dana Simpson
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (To be released May 26, 2015)
Digital review copy courtesy of publisher via NetGalley

I was not aware of the Phoebe and Her Unicorn comics before I read this collection, but I am certainly a fan now. It reminded me a little of Calvin and Hobbes, if Calvin were a spelling whiz girl who loved nerdy things and if Hobbes were a fashion conscious unicorn with attitude.

What I like best about Phoebe and Marigold Heavenly Nostrils (the unicorn) is that they aren't too perfect or too obnoxious or too smart, but simply real, or as real as friends can be when one is a magical unicorn. They have adventures, friends and enemies, and muddle through life whenever they aren't rollerskating through it. It is wonderful to have a book to give young girls that doesn't put them ornaments, or love interests, or even evil nemeses for the boys in the story. I think quite a few boys might enjoy it as well, though they might not admit it.

My only real issue with the book is that as with many collection of comics, it is better for dipping into than reading whole as there in no particular storyline, simply a series of daily comics. On the other hand, some of them are brilliant, such as Marigold singing Modern Magic Unicorn, her version of Gilbert and Sullivan's Modern Major General.

Four out of five stars. (Available for pre-order now)