Book Review 3: Daisy Kutter

Biography: Kazu Kibuishi is an American graphic novel author and illustrator. He is best known for creating and editing the comic anthology Flight and for creating the webcomic Copper. While pursuing a degree in film studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, he drew the comic strip Clive and Cabbage for the student newspaper The Daily Nexus. After graduation, he worked as an animator for Shaded Box, commercials and video game studio. However, he decided to leave animation because there was no writing involved and went back to comics. He started producing the monthly comic Copper at his website, Bolt City. While editing Flight Volume 1, he also created the graphic novel Daisy Kutter: The Last Train which was selected by the American Library Association as one of the best books for young adults for 2006. He is currently producing the children's graphic novel Amulet, which was released in January 2008. Kibuishi lives in Alhambra, California, and married to fellow illustrator and collaborator Amy Kim Ganter.

Summary: Daisy Kutter's bandit days are behind her. She and partner Tom have gone legit, and now she is a respectable small-town citizen, owner of the local general store--and bored out of her mind. Frustration with the tedium of normal life and her own discontents gets her into trouble after she loses the store in a poker game. Mr. Winters, the security mogul who won it, offers a proposition she can't refuse: to test the new security robots on his train. He is willing to pay. In a fit of recklessness, Daisy takes the job.

Review: I read Daisy Kutter in one day and enjoyed it. It was a quick read and easy to understand with the pictures and dialogue in sequence. There is a good balance of pictures and dialogue where the reader can, on their own, discover what is happening. I could not help but admire the illustrations because they are so detailed and the features of each character remained the same throughout the story. (This is important when including illustrations inside a book.) I could see and feel the emotions of each character and could sense the intensity of each action scene because of how well the illustrations were drawn. Reading Daisy Kutter reminded me of when I read Archie comic books when I was younger. I was able to understand those short stories because of the pictures and dialogue supporting each other. I loved the whole train sequence where so much action took place. Once again, I could feel myself inside the story because of how well the illustrations brought it to life. Even though there was no words the majority of the time, I could still understand what was happening and experienced the effects with the pictures. The onomatopoeia was great! There is some language that may not be appropriate for younger students. Daisy Kutter is a book that is best suited for a more mature audience such as high school students. Even though we do not like hearing and using the language in the book, high school students have a better understanding where they will not get too offended by them. Daisy Kutter is a great action filled book that mature audiences will enjoy.

My book review can also be found at Borders.