The team behind Adventures in Cartooning returns for a funny and poignant comics-style tale of chivalry and friendship.
In the opening pair of horizontal panels, a knight in full armor rides a horse named Edward: "Faster, Edward! Faster!" cries the knight. Blue skies turn to a surreal yellow background as the knight shouts, "We're flying! Yee-haw!" and they sail off a cliff and splash into the water below. Knight and horse joyfully embrace and prepare to "do it again" when a winged gryphon (eagle in front, lion in back) approaches. Edward bravely tries to protect his friend from the swooping gryphon who knocks him down, but to no avail. The gryphon scoops up the knight and takes off into the sky. "I'm flying for real!" cries the knight. "This is amazing!!!" Though the rider promises his steed, "I'll be right back.... Weeeeee," a windowpane quartet of images show day turning to night as Edward waits patiently for the return of his friend.
This disarming tale probes the unsettling dynamics of a third person's intrusion into a close friendship. The sequences begin humorously, but quickly tap into authentic feelings of abandonment. All ends well, however, as Edward proves himself to be a far better friend to the knight than the not-so-great gryphon. Exquisitely paced full-page images and panels toggle between horizontal and vertical sequences, maintaining the right balance between empathy and humor, outward action and internal growth. For budding cartoonists, the endpapers provide step-by-step instructions on how to draw the main characters. --Jennifer M. Brown, former children's editor, Shelf Awareness