ComicWorm Speaks!- Claudia and Mean Janine

ComicWorm Speaks!

Claudia and Mean Janine: Full-Color Edition (The Baby-Sitters Club Graphix #4)

by Ann M. Martin and Raina Telgemeier 

****

Acquired: Barnes and Noble Booksellers

Series: The Babysitters Club (The Babysitters Club Graphix)

Paperback: 176 pages

Publisher: GRAPHIX; Revised, Full Color Edition edition (January 26, 2016)

Language: English

****

The Story: Claudia and her sister, Janine, may as well be from two different planets. Claudia, who pays more attention to her artwork and The Baby-sitters Club than her homework, feels like she can't compete with her perfect sister. Janine studies nonstop, gets straight As, and even takes college-level courses! But when something unexpected happens to the most beloved person in their family, will the sisters be able to put aside their differences?

The Review: When ComicWorm was in middle school, the Babysitters Club books were frequent checkouts from the library. 

It wasn’t entirely clear why he liked them so much when he was neither a girl nor a babysitter. Most likely…it was just the characters. Seeing these disparate and distinct personalities bounce off one another and the people they meet and watching each character live and grow. Part of the reason YA is so popular now. This was YA before it was cool! 

There’s just one problem: The original books are bad. 

That is one of great tragedies of any Bookworm or ComicWorm for that matter: The books/comics you loved and read over and over again as child are picked up again as an adult and you realize that they were poorly written, aged shabbily, or written only for specific age group. The Babysitters Club is a little of all three. 

Even the covers have not done well. ComicWorm is not a fashionista by any means (He gets new t-shirts at the Salvation Army) but even he cringes when he sees the garish Eighties fashions and hairstyles on the covers of the original books. 

Despite the series popularity back in the day, there has not been a reprint in decades. 

This graphic novel has proven to be the series’ salvation, because while it may not have seemed like it at first…this series is perfect for a graphic novel as the original books were the perfect lengths for such an adaptation. 

The art style is superb. It is bright and colorful but not flashy and it does not shy away from dark scenes when the story calls for it. When Claudia is waiting on the porch, the ambient mood is captured perfectly. There is also a more subtle approach to the art as well that is asseverated through color. In happier scenes, such as the kid camp, the scene is energetic with pronounced colors. In more serious scenes, the colors are softer and more subdued. It is said that the devil is in the details and the artist demonstrates their skill with adding such subtleties to a story for eighth graders. 

Having read many comic books, this one stands out to ComicWorm. 

This may sound strange but in comics ‘movement’ is very important. It is a known fact that in animation (of which comics are the precursor) emotions and expressions tend to be more exaggerated in order convey emotion from characters that are not as detailed as ordinary humans. 

The best way to accomplish this is to exaggerate movement i.e. shrugging, yelling, and making emotion more outward. The artist of this book captures this extremely well. This is not a ‘serious’ graphic novel in that the art style is not like a superhero story where lip wrinkles are drawn. The characters are drawn like animated characters. Ironically, this makes the story seem more ‘lifelike’ because otherwise it would come off as stilted and unnatural. 

When Claudia is angry, she looks angry. When Mimi looks angry, the reader believes that she is angry. The emotions are palatable, and this is a very emotional story that a lot of readers can relate to. Anyone who has a sibling can relate to this book, along with anyone who has experienced sudden illness or death in a family. Claudia is visibly struggling with the changes going on her life and her frustration is tangible. She loves creative ventures but she struggles with schoolwork and everyone seems to see only that, not her talents. That is very relatable to anyone creative in a world where creative skills are pushed aside in favor of math and sciences.  Claudia is growing up. She is changing, her world is changing and she comes into conflict with Janine who is also struggling with her role in the family. 

ComicWorm is unsure on whose part this belongs too, but starting the story with ‘it was a dark and stormy night’ is both clever and risky. Perhaps not as risky because it has a picture, but it is a clever literary joke. 

Some readers may find it odd that the club still uses a landline and passes out flyers in the age of mobiles and social media but it actually helps the story and characters feel more ‘tactile’ otherwise and it adds a sense of timelessness to an otherwise modern update to a series that has aged rather poorly. 

If there are some flaws, they are few and far between. The biggest one could be that maybe there are a few too many sub plots and a few too many characters. Some of them ComicWorm just found himself saying ‘meh.’ Not bad but they didn’t feel important, then again that could be seen as an example of the slice of life genre this series represents. 

Final Verdict: While it is doubtful the artist will adapt all 131 novels of the Babysitters Club and then the specials, ComicWorm sincerely hopes that we see more of these books adapted to graphic format and introduce a new generation of readers to this legendary series. 

Five Katanas out of Five (cause they’re Japanese baby!)

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