Oddly Normal #2 is fantasy driven, all ages comic anyone can enjoy

Oddly Normal is a ten-year old girl who is half witch.  Her dad is from Earth while her mom is from a magical land called Fignation.  The comic has aspects of The Wizard of Oz in addition to more contemporary fantasy elements.   Oddly Normal stands out as an all ages comic book because of a couple elements that no other comic currently has.

In Oddly Normal #2 we meet the title character as her house and family have just disappeared.  Suddenly her eccentric aunt appears from a neon door that Oddly Normal sees appear before her eyes.  The two catch up on things, very weird things at which point Oddly asks her aunt to try a spell to bring things and people back.

During the spell auntie realizes that something is quite wrong and dangerous for our 10 year old heroine.  The spell creates a gigantic red lit explosion and the two realize that they need to get to Fignation immediately.  Auntie casts another spell on Oddly which puts her into a deep sleep.

When Oddly wakes up she thinks that everything is normal until a dwarf named Lyman C. Preston who has four legs and eight eyes answers the door.  It is then that Oddly Normal sees the majesty in front of her that is Fignation.

I’m hesitant to say that girls will like this more than boys, but they’ll certainly identify with the lead character quicker.  It’s not exclusively for girls by any means, but the absence of a male or boy lead is rare and will hopefully entice young girls into reading it.

The dialogue in Oddly Normal is perfect for an all ages comic.  It has vocabulary that is large enough to challenge while simple enough for young readers to follow along.  The text is printed large enough so that young readers can easily read it without being in a fringe font that exemplifies creativity rather than ease of reading.

The art, especially at the end of the book is creative, imaginative and lets readers into the fun and chaos that is Fignation.

There is also something old school about a comic book printing fan letters from young readers.  They’ve also got some fan art that artists had submitted.  Oddly Normal is published by Image Comics and kudos to them for the ads that they ran in the comic.  Bonus: Oddly Normal is only $2.99, which is great considering that most books are $3.99.

Some potential all ages comic books have stories and art that are OK for any age, but the advertisements for their other books are far from all age appropriate.  Flash Gordon is a great example of that.  Flash is a good all ages comic, but the ads for the other books in the Dynamite lineup aren’t appropriate for the Flash Gordon audience.  Image produces lots of comics that are awesome, but only a couple that are appropriate for all ages, so their restraint in marketing too much product is commended.

Oddly Normal is a great book that treats audiences exactly where they are and need to be.  It has enough fantasy and action to whet the appetite of young readers while keeping all of the content and ads solely in their realm too.