Valley Valley / Idella Dell by Audra Stang
Valley Valley / Idella Dell by Audra Stang
44 pages / 6.625x10.25"
Risograph: Hunter Green, Brown, Medium Blue, Bright Red, Aqua, Violet, Sunflower, Light Lime
Instant classic from the cartoonist of Star Valley.
My full review from Comics Blogger 15:
"This can be read as a searing satire, or an empathetic exhortation. Two cartoonists who happen to be cousins, Valley and Idella are locked in an unspoken confrontation. Valley fancies herself a serious artist or at least someone with higher aims. She has a sneering attitude toward the cute and trite work produced by her more successful counterpart in Idella. Idella has somewhat stumbled upon the acclaim that her comics have brought her, but remains unsatisfied in love and frustrated. They both want what the other has, but if they had those things they would cease to be who they are. Stang imbues her characters with big feelings in way that feels natural. There’s a definitive heart-on-the-sleeve approach, but her subtly as a cartoonist tempers and complicates outward stated emotions. A slight shift in facial expression or how her character’s wear their hair tell us so much about them. Even the format of this comic being a split, flipbook style with each character having their own dedicated half rises above a gimmick by the way their stories intertwine. It’s not a simple one to one despite the desire to read it that way. And that's exactly where the tension lies. Both of these characters struggle with their own unique self doubts, needs, and wants. We see them lashing out and overhearing things they shouldn’t. Valley and Idella are both trying to figure out their own place. Nothing is settled. The interplay between teh two sides is more complex than the titled comic strip format of each page would suggest. Valley Valley/ Idella Dell also touches on social media and how an artists’ impact is amplified and skewed through what some see as a necessary evil. There’s also very funny inside baseball stuff like the Shingle Award and Speech Balloon fest (the Ignatz brick and Though Bubble.) This comic stands out as a successful balancing act. It’s splashy in its presentation and the hook, but like all of Stang’s comics the emotional core of the work is what gives it life. It’s the honesty and frankness that brings the reader along for the exploration as much as the characters are. "