Writer / Penciller / Colour Artist: Dan White / Letterer: Jim Campbell / Designer: Sarah Rockwell / Editor: Zack Soto / SC / Oni Press
The Pitch: From revered British indie cartoonist Dan White comes a monster-fighting latchkey kid in the vein of I Kill Giants and Courtney Crumrin. Meet Cindy and Biscuit: a girl and her dog. People (even her mum!) keep telling Cindy she’s weird, that she’s got a morbid, overactive imagination—but if that was true, why would she keep encountering all these monsters, ghosts, and aliens in real life? Watch Cindy and her fearless four-legged best friend get into all kinds of trouble, as their little coastal town seems to have a preponderance of werewolves, undead mermaids, dimensional portals, alien invasions, and worse . . . it's dark out in the woods! Luckily for all of us, Cindy is the action hero we needed, just in time to save the world a few times between now and detention.
Review by Paul Dunne
3rd November 2023 (Released: 16th August 2023)
A word of warning before we dive in: since I assume that a lot of parents may read this before picking the book up for their kids, you may want to avoid reading to or with them just before bedtime. Spooky stuff happens. There. You've been duly warned. Let's go get muddy!
Dan White's Cindy and Biscuit are probably two of the best creations in modern comics for young minds. Like the audience they aim at, they're loyal to each other, adventurous, and always in the doghouse. Unlike your kids, they face werewolves, ghosts, and aliens, the plucky trouble-finding fictional child trifecta. Cindy is a fascinating character in modern cartooning. She carves her own path (or sometimes just follows the dog) but is definitely standing on the shoulders of giants. In that regard, this book has a lot in common with superhero comics, which also feed off, and pay respect to, what has gone before.
The slightly grubbier kids from The Beano and The Dandy seem to be close relations. Scott Pilgrim a kindly uncle (just look at those dynamic action panels), and Misty surely had to have been swimming in White's subconscious in making a book full of weird, led by a young girl. But if you want this writer's two pence worth, well... I think it's best if you want to trace Cindy and Biscuit's family tree back to its origins if you imagine TinTin and Snowy growing up in U.K. Council housing, with Captain Haddock replaced by an overworked, worried, slightly angry parent. And that is one of my favourite things about these characters: they are or at least appear to be to my mind, working class.
Cindy is an outsider, through and through. We don't see her playing with a lot of other kids, except a ghost child who haunts a small lake or pond. She has a lonely, outcast child's dreams of destroying the world. It's at once worrying, but comforting. It suggests checking in with your kids and telling them they're loved. Latterly, Cindy and Biscuit hang out with other outcasts like the abominable snowman, which speaks to her compassion for others. Something that is hard to gauge in young teens now, largely due, I feel, to the isolating effects of social media. Tellingly, there are things you don't see Cindy do, like constantly checking her mobile phone (if indeed she even has one) or staring vacantly into a tablet. Most of her and Biscuit's adventures occur outside the house, selling the importance of getting your kids out in the air.
Of course, there are dangers out there, including Junji Ito-esque mono-eyed, black-haired spirits. Don't fret though, it's not as dark as it seems. Cindy solves most problems with either resolute toughness or by simply showing compassion. Cindy's mum tempers her exasperation with her daughter with genuine love and there’s real joy in Cindy and Biscuit’s adventures. Throughout, White's tone is never preachy, just warm and genuine. You get the sense he believes what he writes and the real flights of fancy are saved for what he draws.
White's art and colours offer a fun, dynamic canvass. He uses big panels, with big expressive faces that are ideal for younger readers and YA audiences. His action is clearly defined and you never feel at a loss for what's happening. The dialogue is minimal, with White letting the action do the talking. Although there's an Anime influence to the figures, White's panels are simply defined, using the page well and keeping the narrative clear. Other influences find their way into White's art and that's good news for us... because White seems to have imbibed the clean, active lines of Chris Samnee and the rich, atmospheric colours of Francesco Francavilla. He uses negative, white space perfectly, focussing your eye on the good stuff. Jim Campbell's letters are crisp, conveying the voices well, making them distinct and loud. This needs to be in your kid's stocking for Christmas, or under the tree for yourself and will doubtless be making its way onto end-of-year best-of lists, including mine if I get off my butt and do one!
Cindy and Biscuit is available now from Gosh! Comics, signed by Dan White. Want more comics? Check out The Comic Crush shops, where you can pick up DC, Marvel, and more, with free UK Postage.
