Doggie and Jilly

    (Doggie, 2002)

In an age of comics with injury-to-eye covers being marketed to kids, Doggie and Jilly is a good example of something the industry needs, badly. It’s a wonderful children’s comic book aimed at children in the 6-8-year-old range, specifically girls. Doggie and Jilly is the story of a girl, Jilly, and her adventures with a stuffed animal, Doggie, that has come to life. Series creator Drew Boynton has a winning concept.

The lead story is an example of good cartooning, drawn by Steve Willhite. It’s a simple story about embarrassment after falling off a bicycle in front of friends. Unfortunately, the rest of the issue is made up of Boynton’s own art and it just doesn’t hold up to the level of quality Willhite provides. An entire issue of Boynton writing and Willhite drawing would be a treat.

The lead feature also contains great hand-lettering, so it’s a jarring shift from that into bad computer lettering. Creators of independent comics need to invest in a high-quality font, or the whole thing becomes unreadable.

Creating comic books like this for children is a sure way to get kids into comics at an early age and ensure that they stick with the hobby. Marvel and DC, are you listening?

— Steve Horton
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