Nico Bravo and the Celler Dwellers, deep and fun in art & story

This is not a pejorative to other graphic novels, but Nico Bravo and the Cellar Dwellers is a very smart graphic novel. It’s not that the book is trying to flout its intelligence. Cellar Dwellers is the second book in the Nico Bravo series and I just didn’t get the first one. Granted, part of my opinion could’ve been shaped by the fact that our then ten-year-old said he “didn’t get the book” when he read it. Note to self: be sure to double-check the book recommendations from your son before you bake them into your opinion. 

Maybe it’s because I’m a year older or possibly because I read the book before our son, that I realized that this series is awesome. Nico Bravo and the Cellar Dwellers does have a lot of characters. There are three main protagonists and a couple of dozen second-tier or other minor characters. The drawing style is very clean and sharp by Mike Cavallaro. It’s the fact that the illustrations are all so individualistic and detailed that help readers define the mythical world that’s been created.

Personally, I tend to zone out when it’s a book with any sort of mythology connection. In Nico Bravo and the Cellar Dwellers the mythology is there, but it’s loose, used for character familiarity only, and really adds to the story. The first character that gave it away and added juice to the story is Deowulf, a two-tiered ancestor of Beowulf. After a bit of research, I learned Deowulf isn’t a real character in the Beowulf lineage but has more in common with a character from World of Warcraft instead.

Nico is an employee at a magical store where all manner of monsters, demi-gods, or people can get supplies for quests great and small. Nico Bravo and the Cellar Dwellers has a lot of story for a graphic novel that requires readers to pay attention. Pay attention isn’t a bad thing. I know that school has ingrained it in our psyche that when you pay attention it’s a bad thing and you were obviously wasting time looking out the window at the shapes of clouds.

It’s obvious when you look at any page of Cellar Dwellers. The graphic novel is standard sized but has five to seven panels, or sometimes more on each page. This is a huge story that culminates in warlord unicorns, aliens, rock monsters, shape-shifters, and more.

Nico Bravo and the Cellar Dwellers is also a lot of fun. The art is detailed and evokes any number of inspirations from Futurama, Johnny Test, Phineas & Ferb, and Spongebob. It’s also uniquely weird enough to attract those middle-school readers (or older) who think that they don’t like stories that could have loose threads of a fable inspired story.

Niceo Bravo and the Cellar Dwellers is by Mike Cavallaro and on :01 First Second.

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