MAY - Cursed Pirate Girl

May review for Book Riot's Read Harder 2017: Cursed Pirate Girl - Vol. I by Jeremy A Bastian, 2012. [all ages comic category]

I was on a quest to the library for more Stephen King, when I happened upon Cursed Pirate Girl and was immediately enthralled by the cover. Sometimes I get nervous, finding a cover I really like, because the art style inside doesn't match. But I was not fooled in such a way by this book! Cursed Pirate Girl is about just that, a cursed pirate girl. It is unclear at first whether this is a self-appointed moniker or there is actually some basis to the claim, but in any rate, it is what we know her by. We are introduced to the world not through her eyes, however; instead we start the story through the eyes of Apollonia, the Governor's daughter, who witnesses a fight between three ruffian boys and a girl on the beach below. Needless to say, the girl trounces the boys, and Apollonia wants to befriend her. The next day, Apollonia meets the girl on the beach to hear the story of the Cursed Pirate Girl, and our heroine comes to light. Not having her as our first point of contact in the book gives CPG a more mysterious air, but it also meant it took a little bit for me as a reader to connect with her. I liked her well enough, sure, but I kept wondering where the governor's daughter ways through force of habit. 

This was a fun little volume. Other reviews I read referred to it as a sort of Alice in Wonderland on the High Seas, a fantastically whimsical and swashbuckling adventure. The Cursed Pirate Girl is on a quest to find her father, the most revered pirate of the fabled Omerta Seas, and this first volume gathers her team around her as she begins her journey. She meets a bird who inhabits a fish so that it can travel to the Seas underwater, a pair of swordfish-headed knight brothers that felt really reminiscent of Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee, and a host of other piratical creatures. I really enjoyed the art style of this book, especially the illustrated sounds, such as the gasp pictured below:

gaaaaasp (p25)

Such illustrations lent a feel of entirety to the drawings, with every part of the atmosphere included in the rendition. Jeremy Bastian is a fantastic artist, every page brimming with so much intricacy that you don't really know where to focus your eyes. I had to spend a little extra time before each page turn, just making sure I caught everything. I liked this fun little comic!