Poppy! and the Lost Lagoon TPB Review
Writer: Matt Kindt & Brian Hurtt
Artist: Brian Hurtt
Colorist: Matt Kindt
Review by Josh Canales
Opening on a magic carpet ride and some dad-burned hilarious censorship, the tone of the book is established immediately as light-hearted fun. Matt Kindt does a fantastic job of keeping this consistent all the way through, while still adding those emotional elements older readers tend to look for. As we follow this dynamic duo on their adventure we meet many interesting characters, starting with the constantly reincarnating 4,00 year old Ramses (yes, the pharaoh!) in an eight year old’s body. Ramses, being as old as he is, has many ancient and mystical artifacts, such as a shrunken head that speaks in riddles once a year. These riddles are what set Poppy and Colt off on their adventures, attempting to solve them with the help of the resources left behind by Poppy’s grandfather, Pappy. With resources like a massive ship, a loyal crew, and so much more cool stuff, Poppy and Colt are prepared for anything the world can throw at them. So we think.
Soon enough, Colt’s past adventures with Pappy (not Poppy) come back to haunt them. Long before Poppy was an adventurer, Colt was Pappy’s right hand man and the two had gotten into some sticky situations in their day. The two had “relocated” an entire natural habitat of exotic sea creatures from the city of Old Macadamia’s aquarium. In doing so the two not only destroyed Old Macadamia’s tourism based economy, but caused the creatures to become advanced enough to communicate. Upon learning this, Poppy is hit with the realization that her quest is not simply to retrieve the exoctic fish the shrunken head had alluded to, but also to fix the wrongdoing of Colt and her grandfather. She is determined to let nothing stop her, not free-falling from an aqueduct, not booby traps, and certainly not a gigantipus!
Matt Kindt’s writing in this book is impressive, it can be difficult to write an all-ages book without snubbing a certain age group, but he succeeds with flying colors. His personification of each character is true-to-life, while sticking with the wacky world of gigantipuses and regenerating pharaohs. Poppy is an excited child, still seeing the world in black and white, ignoring danger in the name of adventure and helping others. Colt on the other hand is an experienced adventurer who simply wants to keep Poppy safe, causing him to get distracted and takes his mind off what is happening in the here and now. These two personalities make for an interesting team dynamic, like a cross between the father/daughter and bestfriends dynamics. Kindt’s creative names and word-replacement make for even the most serious of moments to be gal-durned enjoyable!
The art by Brian Hurtt is a fantastic fit to the story. Hurtt’s characters have personality just seeping out of them in every panel, whether its their faces or just the way they’re moving, each character is their own. Highly complimenting Hurtt’s art, Kindt’s watercolor palette is a nice refresher from the usual digital colors in most modern comics. The two come together to create masterpieces on each page that anyone can enjoy.
The Verdict
Buy it. This family-friendly book is great for anyone who loves reading, comics or not. Poppy! and the Lost Lagoon is a fun and easy to follow story that will have you never wanting to put it down!
