Review by C.J. Bunce
Katie Cook’s Nothing Special Volume One: Through the Elder Woods (reviewed earlier this past spring here at borg, was one cute book. Cute in every way, with fun characters, a story that flows from silly to serious and back again, and artwork older kids should love. Now available from publisher Ten Speed Graphic is the second installment of Nothing Special, called Nothing Special Volume Two: Concerning Wings (available here at Amazon). It collects the first 25 chapters of Season 2 of the webcomic. The fantasy adventures of a teen girl named Callie and her friends continue, a kids’ version of The Lord of the Rings in the style of The Wizard of Oz. And writer-artist Cook is back pulling from all the fantasy tropes, stuffing the story with callbacks and throwbacks that tap into all sorts of pop culture. It’s another fun ride.
All of our friends Callie, Declan, Lasser, and Radish are back in this sweet fantasy romance romp. The focus this time is on Callie’s boyfriend, the fairy Declan. The story starts out cozy, with Declan renting a room from Callie’s dad. Now that readers have met all the characters, Cook takes off the gloves and lets them all have even more fun together, and that friendship will draw readers into this nice sense of community.
In the first volume the focus was Callie’s journey–a teen trying to find herself in a woodland realm where everything and everyone seems to have a different agenda. After the quest to find Callie’s dad in the first volume, the new twist is Declan finds his wing is torn, which is making him ill. This results in the webcomic’s next epic quest, a journey where Declan gets to learn more about his fairy roots, and maybe something more about himself.
As with the first volume, the pop culture references are more for adult readers than the target audience. What drew me to the next installment was more of Radish, now Callie’s loyal floating vegetable spirit sidekick who has more to say and much more to do–especially in the margins of the comic panels. Cook doodles in those margins and speaks directly to readers at times. Readers who really pay attention will find messages on the spines of books on shelves, in windows, and even on Post-it notes.
Scrabble, a quirky professor, a collection of trashy romance novels, a cute kitty, and a bittersweet celebration. The full-color artwork by Cook is just right for teen or young adult readers (and adults, too) with an edge of sweetness and only a little snark, but all fun. It has all the components of your favorite manga adventure, but drawn in more of a fairytale, updated Western traditional style. As with the first volume it also deals with “life issues.” This volume includes additional artwork and extras not found in the web version of the comic. And the ending signals more stories to come.
Cook previously wrote for IDW Publishing’s My Little Pony series, and this story will fit for fans of that series and those a bit older. The thick 352-page hardcover format makes for a fun storybook. Just released from Ten Speed Graphic, order Nothing Special Volume Two: Concerning Wings (available here at Amazon). Nothing Special Volume One: Through the Elder Woods is available here at Amazon.
