We love hunting out child-friendly comics, particularly ones that deal rather nicely with issues every youngster might face at some point in their lives - but in a unique way.
Enter cave-boy Tib. He has a fairly ordinary caveboy life, messing around with his 'friends' (who are a little bit on the cruel side to be honest, and often mock him because he has a huge red birthmark over one eye) with a macho cave-man dad (who goes out hunting a lot) and a gorgeous down-to-earth mum who is always on hand to offer wisdom advice.
It can be a fairly lonely existence though, so Tib often goes off on his own in search of adventure. One day, adventure finds him. Adventure in the shape of a rather large fire-engine-red dinosaur!
(Well he's actually *not* that large but Tib is a toddler, so everything looks big, right?)
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| Tib and Tumtum meet for the first time. "You have a nice face!" |
Tib ascertains that his new buddy is called Tumtum (because of the ace noise he makes when he lollops along the savannah at speed). Tumtum isn't really a pet, he's more of a friend but he's timid - so when Tib tries to introduce him to the aforementioned gaggle of cave-friends, or even tell mum and dad about Tumtum no one believes him.
"An imaginary friend!" says Mum. "How lovely, I had one of those when I was your age!"
Tib and Tumtum Volume 1 is lovely, it's like a prehistoric version of Calvin and Hobbes (in fact, the way that only Tib sees Tumtum at the start of the book, does echoe C & H more than I realised at the time). Each page feels like a mini comic strip in its own right, but all gel together to make a story that has a rather funny and brilliant conclusion, and leaves you hungry for more adventures with Tib and Tumtum.
For children it's brilliant and engaging stuff, and bar a few non gory but still gross-out moments (Tumtum's diet is a little bit visceral, eesh, poor bunnies!), it's safe enough to let even the youngest little dino fans (who can't wait to cut their teeth on awesome comic strips) loose on.
Hopefully there'll be more from Tib and Tumtum very soon.
Tib and Tumtum Volume 1 - Welcome to the Tribe by Grimaldi and Bannister is released today by Graphic Universe and is available from all cool and groovy indies and comic outlets.
Charlotte's best bit: Tumtum being a fabulous replacement for Yoshi, cute dino style
Daddy's favourite bit: Brilliant comic strip that kids will recognise themselves in despite the setting. Just awesome!
(Kindly sent to us for review by Graphic Universe via Netgalley)