Goldy and the Bear

Comic, David Belanger and Dan Mclaren, Vol 1, davidwinterbelanger.deviantart.com

A fairy tale of two best friends,  Goldy  and the Bear  follows lifelong buddies  through their early twenties in Toronto,  and their assorted relationships along  the way. Though the artistic style changes  halfway through the volume, the authors  acknowledge it and make it work in their  favour. The more realistic style that pops  up in the second half facilitates episode  23’s “Who do you look like game” which  sees the characters morphing into their  celebrity doppelgangers.  The pacing of the story is a little fast,  which doesn’t allow the reader to relate  to the characters on a deeper level. Even  though we see them in all the ups and  downs of their various relationships,  there’s not enough character  development to humanize them. By the  end of the book, I really just wanted to  know more about the characters.  The comics were funny, but  sometimes relied on cultural references  that I didn’t always understand. At the  end of episode  12, where most of the  frames were lines from a movie I had  never seen or heard of, I found myself  confused. Though it did make me want  to seek out  1958’s  Auntie Mame very  soon.  The book has its flaws, but it was  enjoyable to read and set the characters  and the authors up for, what I hope  will be, further development and  exploration in the volumes to come.  (Anna Wellman)

Leave a Reply