Review of Jellaby by Kean Soo
All-Ages Comic Melts Your Heart With its Loveable Monster
Dec 31, 2008
He’s a six-foot-tall purple monster. (But he’d rather play with his toy pony than smash buildings). He’s got a mouth big enough to swallow a TV. (But he only eats tuna sandwiches and the occasional crayon). And he looks a lot like Godzilla’s second cousin. (But he prefers the name given to him by his friends – Jellaby).
A Secret Friend
When ten-year-old Portia Bennett finds a sweet lost monster cowering in the woods, she does what any reasonable child would do – she brings him home and bonds with him over a tuna sandwich. Soon, Portia and Jellaby are the best of friends – hanging out in the woods, playing with dolls, and watching TV (although Portia won’t let Jellaby watch Godzilla movies, out of fear that “he’ll get the wrong idea.”)
But when Jellaby sees a mysterious door in an article about an upcoming Toronto Halloween fair, he recognizes it as something important from his past. Deciding that the door leads to Jellaby’s family, Portia vows to get her new friend back home.
With the help of Jason, a boy from school, Portia and Jellaby concoct a plan to sneak onto a train to Toronto and find the door. But traveling with a giant purple monster – even on Halloween – isn’t easy. Ticket sellers aren’t convinced Jellaby is an adult in a costume. A strange man who resembles someone from Portia’s past is asking questions. And what are Portia and Jason supposed to do when Jellaby needs to use the bathroom?
From Online Comic to Graphic Novel
“Jellaby just sort of tumbled out of my head as I was playing around and doodling in my sketchbook,” says creator Kean Soo in a February 3, 2008 interview for the Keep Toronto Reading Blog. “I liked the idea of having this big, scary monster being taught by a little girl how to act like a well-mannered gentleman, and the strange contradictions that that would create.”
Originally appearing in issues of the comic anthology Flight as well as an all-ages online comic for the Secret Friend Society website Soo designed with fellow cartoonist Hope Larson, Jellaby received an Eisner Award nomination and rave reviews from comic creators Jeff Smith (creator of Bone) and Scott McCloud (author of Understanding Comics).
One look at the graphic novel and it’s easy to see what readers find so appealing. With his oversized head, huge mouth, and expressive eyes that seem simultaneously naïve and intelligent, Jellaby is a monster any kid (or adult) would fall in love with.
But Jellaby’s charm doesn’t end with his appearance. Although the monster doesn’t say a word for most of the novel, Soo’s grasp of visual storytelling is so great that the reader can understand everything Jellaby is feeling, thinking or communicating simply by following Soo’s wonderfully expressive illustrations. Indeed, many of Jellaby’s scenes are reminiscent of classic moments from Spielberg’s E.T. or Disney Pixar’s WALL-E.
Soo also displays a fine touch in depicting his younger characters – Portia, a precocious girl ostracized by her classmates, and Jason, a latch-key kid frequently targeted by bullies. Into this mix is placed Jellaby – innocent enough to need looking after by Portia and Jason, yet moral enough to play the older sibling when he sees his friends fighting.
Jellaby Online Comics
Soo has completed a Jellaby sequel, Jellaby, Monster in the City, which picks up right where the first graphic novel left off. Fans should also check out Soo’s Jellaby Archives, which contain not only the first two chapters of the original Jellaby graphic novel, but also several Jellaby short online comics. Visitors to the site should also check out Hope Larson’s Salamander Dream.
Soo, Kean. Jellaby. NY: Hyperion Paperbacks for Children, 2008. ISBN: 978-142310303-5
Soo, Kean. Jellaby, Monster in the City. NY: Hyperion Books, 2009. ISBN: 978-1423105657
Do you like all-ages graphic novels with strong heroines and humorous plots? Then check out a review of Shannon Hale's fractured fairy tale with a Western twist Rapunzel's Revenge.
