The Diary of Sweet Pea Review
The Diary of Sweet Pea review
Created by: Alim Legget
Written by: Alim Legget & Steven Duffy
Art by: Yuseph Shittuh
Colors by: Mervain Gadaingan
Letters by: Steven Duffy
Oh, school. How I miss the simpler days. Before it became an 8-5 grind and constant bills it was breakfast and school buses. It was making plans to do things our parents wouldn’t approve of (except for me, I was lame). It was watching our bus driver get eaten by a random giant monster. Oh? That wasn’t you? Oh, I guess it was just The Diary of Sweet Pea then.
The first issue of The Diary of Sweet Pea starts like any other school day. Imani (aka Sweetpea) running out of the house to the bus, dad running late to work, their cute dog Benny destroying the backyard, aaand oh yeah those monsters I mentioned. Yes, Philadelphia isn’t just where the Fresh Prince ran into a couple of guys up to no good- it’s the heart of a full-blown monster invasion. Cue the panic and destruction.
For many of us, our parents are our heroes, and in this book that’s exactly what Sweet Pea’s father is. While he seems like a mild-mannered construction worker (possibly, it’s never really fleshed out beyond an offhand comment about a crew and a project), Sweetpea’s father shows off some amazing skills. Superhuman skill.
While the girls on the bus are being typical b-words, SweetPea’s father is out there kicking monster butt with some pretty sweet glow effects. What a loving father won’t do to get to his daughter. With Sweetpea and her best friend Maya in tow, the trio are fighting tooth and nail to get back to their home (and dog). Unfortunately, Maya doesn’t make it but with such a fleeting character the intensity of the loss is hard to feel.
The further into the book, the more questions I had about who or what Sweetpea’s father is. Suffering from a bit of First Issue Syndrome, (excerpt from my Purr Evil #1 review: First Issue Syndrome. Common symptoms include too much story, too little story, iffy art, and the very serious page turn-itis. You’ve never heard of page turn-itis? It’s the loss of interest or pleasure in turning book pages.) I don’t quite feel like I’m able to get grounded in the story.
32 pages fly by and I know a few things for sure: Sweetpea and Dad are Dad/Daughter goals, everyone should have a friend Maya, holy balls what is going on?!, aaand her dad is a ghost? Maybe?
I’m getting Casper vibes purely from the love between Dad and daughter but I can’t say for certain what her father is. The chaos within the first issue only elicits questions and doesn’t provide a single answer. Do I want answers? Absolutely. Do I intend on reading the following issues to get said answers?
Probably. While this first issue didn’t grab me (like that poor bus driver got grabbed by a monster), the art is solid. The use of the onomatopoeia is okay. It just felt bustling and busy overall. So much going on in one issue that it was hard to really catch your footing in the story.
All in all though, not a bad book. Not bad at all!
Sabrina A. Clark
Do I know Sabrina? Sabrina…Sabrina….Oh, you mean her? Yeahh. She’s wild. Homegirl throws solo dance parties in her bedroom. She writes like nobody’s reading…because they aren’t (yet). She is an award winning baker, and has seen every episode of every season of ALL the Star Treks, and Stargates except Stargate Universe because it wasn’t right. Perpetual teenager. 4’11 of sass and sarcasm. She’s obsessed with cats. Single if you can believe it. All around nerd, and just too weird for her own good. AND SHE’S PROUD OF IT?
