Dodo
By: Felipe Nunes
Published by: Kaboom!
Review by Stephanie Cooke
Dodo is a story about a young girl named Laila coming to terms with her family as it splits apart. Her father has left and all she wants to do is be a normal kid, going to school, and playing with others. As Laila tries to process what’s going on, her feelings begin to manifest through a strange dodo bird that shows up.
At its core, Dodo is a story for kids but it gets real deep in its themes, many of which are things that kids go through regularly as a part of just growing up. I love that Nunes is exploring many of these issues in something that’s actually being marketed towards kids through Boom! Studios’ kids imprint, Kaboom! It’s vitally important that kids understand that there are others out there going through similar things and that we all carry on and recover from these emotional wounds. How we cope is also an important thing to discuss and Dodo‘s take on the different ways that can happen.
The art style reminds me a bit of Ken Nimura’s art from I Kill Giants as well as Chris Sanders’ art style from Lilo & Stitch. Nunes worked out of a studio with Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá and I can definitely see influence of their styles in Nunes’ work as well. However, Nunes puts his own twist on it all and has a style that’s unique and charming to look at.
Verdict:
Buy it! Even if you can’t personally relate to what Laila is going through, a lot of the emotions she’s struggling to convey are things that we’ve all experienced in our lives. Dodo is a great exploration of the complex issues behind loss and trying to make sense of that.
Dodo will be available on May 30, 2018.
