Reviewing ‘Punycorn’ — Adorable, Action-Packed Perfection

I’m with Judd Winnick, quoted there on the cover — Andi Watson‘s Punycornis an absolute blast of a book, fabulous, funny, delightful – and yes, everything’s so much better with a tiny unicorn.

It’s adorable, silly, funny, clever, whimsical, and yes, absolutely perfect comics from Watson. But then again, what else did you expect?

Watson’s been one of my favourite British comic makers for as long as I’ve known his work – he is, quite simply, brilliant. There’s not a thing he’s put his name to that isn’t amongst the best things you’ll have read that particular year. It doesn’t matter what he’s writing or who he’s writing for – whether it’s the perfect adult soap opera drama of Breakfast Afternoon, the Kafka-esque adult delights of The Book Tour, the superheroes with a twist of Love Fights, or his delightful all-ages work, including the completely charming fantastical beauty of Glister or the action-packed Gum Girl. All these and more are perfect books, perfect comics – all you need to see is Watson’s name and that’s an iron-clad guarantee of brilliance.

I mean, when even the front and endpapers of the book fill you with joy, you know you’re in for a fine treat…

The story’s a simple one – Watson’s Punycorn is a big-hearted but small-in-stature unicorn, as sweet as he is clumsy, a total dreamer who longs to be part of the elite group of heroic unicorns the magical kingdom of Carbuncle.

Those elite unicorns have ushered in a golden age of “rainbows and cupcakes” to Carbuncle – they’re bigger than Punycorn, they’re better than Punycorn, they’re wielding magical swords and shooting laser eye beams, but they’re also the most judgemental and pompous creatures. Not that Punycorn would say that, he’s far to nice.

But just because it’s all sweetness and light in Carbuncle, it doesn’t mean there’s no evil abroad in this world. And it comes in the shape of a rather spoilt and rather childish Ogre, an ogre with conquest on his mind now that his mom’s given his the gauntlets of power (more on those later on). So, with his annoying sister along for the ride and an army ready to rampage and the elite unicorns away – it’s time for an invasion and time for Punycorn to prove his worth and save the kingdom of Carbuncle.

He’s hardly the most obvious of heroes, but Punycorn and his pals, a fireless dragon and a feisty dung beetle, together with a magic sword with a hidden secret are the last hope for their land, four misfits on a quest to save their world.

There you go, that’s really all you need to know of what this one’s all about. Well, that and the wonderful art examples through the review…

Watson’s art here is back to a simple all-ages style, perhaps most similar to the clear lines and easy-on-the-eye look of Gum Girl. And it’s a simple joy to behold, so easy to follow, packed with emotive character work, plenty of action, a lovely artistic style that’s perfect to entrance young and old readers alike.

It’s absolutely got everything it needs – in spades. Punycorn’s all about the classic concept of the underdog hero never expected to amount to much with a delightful sheen of that’s both fantastical and adorable. You just know that there’s no kid out there who won’t immediately get the message of anyone can be the hero of their tale, no matter how ridiculous others might tell you that is when they’re reading this one.

But when the story and message is deliberately simple, it has to be done with so much skill and the real substance of the read must come from the characters and the way the tale is told. Well, here Watson sets about things just perfectly, starting as he means to go on, this is fast-paced action that doesn’t ever let up, yet still full of great characters, fully developed and realised. It’s got something very Jeff Smith and Bone about it all, and I’d love it to become the sort of success Bone did.

Honestly, I could go on and on and on about how good this is, about how well it hits every beat with such perfect timing, about a cast of great characters, about the plentiful comedy all the way through. But instead, I figured it just takes a few select bits of artwork to let Watson show you so well.

Let’s start with how beautifully well-designed everything is here, where the visuals and the character designs do so much – the perfect show don’t tell. The obvious place to start with that would be the designs of Punycorn and the unicorns. Take this, a glorious moment as poor Punycorn is doing everything he possibly can to join the troop of the big unicorns. He’s doing all his exercises, desperate to be included.

Just look at the art – the glorious difference between poor little Punycorn and the big unicorns, that perfect look of scorn. As you’re reading that “we just sparkle” line, you can just hear the unicorn’s voice in your head, dripping with scorn and pomposity.

You want another example? Oh, of course you want more examples.

How about this then for a moment of the sorts of great comedic touches that Watson threads all the way through the book? It’s just one of so many funny moments between our evil ogre and his smart-alec sister, just after he receives a present of power from mother… a present of power that’s meant to be a pair of gauntlets but happen to look a little bit like mittens…

Punycorn really is such a perfectly done action-packed adventure, every single page is an absolute delight, the pace never letting up, the laughs always there, but the overriding feeling here is heart, a perfect feel-good story that leaves you, no matter what your age, feeling so much better about everything and everyone. C’mon, isn’t it about time you had a little Punycorn in your life?

Punycorn Book 1 – by Andi Watson

Published by Clarion Books/Harper Collins