Outfoxing a Fox to Get to the Tiny Kingdom: Mega Princess 2 Reviewed

I already talked about how good Mega Princess 1 was, and Mega Princess 2 continues to be a very excellent comic.

In fact, I was tempted to just include my brief notes for the issue as my entire review.  Like this:

Funny.

Heartwarming.

Max jumps into action, but is contrite when her assumption is incorrect.

Clever, with the fox.

Art is amazing, KT gets the best from her artists, pushes them to more awesomeness.

But I figured that was a bit too short, although pretty accurate.

In this issue, a dis-embiggened Max and Justine (the saucy pony, remember) are trying to find the Tiny Kingdom in search of baby Bobs, and have to outwit a fox in order to do so.  Taking a puzzler from Car Talk, it seems 😉 , Max is able to stump the fox with a riddle, and proceed to the Tiny Kingdom.

Max accuses the Tiny Kingdom of being behind the kidnapping, but they point out that “human babies have the biggest heads ever”, and since Bobs isn’t conspicuously around, therefore they are obviously not behind the kidnapping.  Which is good as this is only the second issue of 5.  After telling the fox the answer to the riddle, Max and Justine head home dejectedly.  After an interlude with the ditzy fairy godmother Amber, Max finds some clues that lead elsewhere, and she flies off with Justine towards the Undersea Kingdom.  She also manages to miss touching base with her worried parents.

I love this book.  The script is briskly moving the story along, and it’s delightful that when Max realizes she’s wrong about the Tiny Kingdom, she’s contrite about her suspicions, and the Tiny Kingdom leader is understanding.  Max is also a bit hardheaded and perhaps overly focused on solving the case, to the point where she forgets that she should check in with her parents, who are already nervous about one child missing.  It’s wonderful that her parents believe in her, and assume that she’s trying to help, even as they worry about her.

The art — oh, man, Drouhard is so damn good.  Just look at that handshake/fist bump up top — so adorable!  And the way the art shifts to a more watercolor/kids drawing style for the riddle is amazing.  Just take a look:

Those inset heads really drive home the contrast between the regular story art and the riddle art, and how good Brouhard is at both (and no doubt, Robado’s colors play a role as well).  In the projects I’ve seen of Kelly’s, she’s gotten incredibly lucky with having already good-to-great artists, and I dare say she knows how to push those artists even closer to the great end of things.

I assume, since we’re just getting to the middle of the story, the Undersea Kingdom is not to blame, or perhaps not wholly so, but I can’t wait to find out.  Mega Princess is a great book, and I look forward to further adventures after this miniseries wraps up.  This is one that will be a perennial favorite, folks!