First please let me tell you how much I enjoyed watching The Spiderwick Chronicles today. I have not read the books so I have no idea how true it is to the story but as a movie it is great. It's scary, funny and quite tender, the kids are awesome (love seeing a teenage girl who swings a sword with authority!) and Mary Louise Parker is quite good as mom. The kids in the theater all seemed to get into it (loud screams of appreciation for the tomato sauce scene) and the two six-year olds I was with LOVED it. We are so getting this one the minute it is out on DVD; it's really all kinds of awesome.

And now, a round-up of several comics/gn titles that have come across my desk recently:

Flight Explorer Vol I: The new cover is available now from Villard and it is lovely. There are 112 pages of full color stories for all ages including Kazu Kibuishi's own Daisy Kutter (a personal favorite). This one belongs in libraries everywhere I think and I'm not just saying that because I love comics. Kibuishi has already proven himself capable with the very impressive Flight volumes for older readers; the series was long overdue to issue a title for the little kids. I'm sure it's a beauty.

Violet Rose from Bluewater Comics is part Scooby Doo, part girl detective and part junior Buffy. Violet can talk to inanimate objects, a gift that comes in handy when someone spray paints the statue of the town founder. She and her pals run down the culprit while Violet shares a bit about her home life (she's in a foster home and has been there since her grandfather died, although he does visit her time to time in her dreams). We meet her arch enemy (their families go way back in the enemy department) and while things are wrapped up handily it's still a pleasant read. Then you turn the final page and discover that everything is NOT all wrapped up and there is big trouble brewing for Violet in the future. And that is pretty cool because she is certainly up to the job.

The downside for the story is found in how it is put together - the artwork is first rate and it's pitch perfect but the story jumps around in a bit of a jarring manner. At one point a kid comes charging into the library yelling "Hey Babs!" and gets a plot significant lecture from the librarian. We never find out why he came running in or who the heck Babs was though. Also Violet has two friends with her through the whole story but they don't have names - which is really bizarre. There is no background on the friendships at all, no context for how they came to hang out together. The writers need to form those kinds of connections between characters otherwise their readers won't be able to bond with them.

Violet Rose reads like the first issue of an indy comic - which it is. Hopefully the writers will iron out the problems as it has a lot of potential and I really did like Violet. (Here's an interview with the writer who is 16 as it turns out.)

Thomas Siddell has been writing a nifty boarding school horror/girl detective web comic for a couple of years now and Gunnerkirgg Court is now coming out in a full color hardcover edition. What's cool here is that you can check it out online first and see if you like the story before buying. It's scary in a most British sort of creepy way - perfect for middle grade readers in particular.

I have now read the first three issues of Glister and can't recommend this one enough. Andi Watson's spare drawings and quirky stories are really magical - Glister is just a pip, plain and simple. Her father is dotty as all get out , the setting is the right kind of weird (fun weird) and the fact that all the oddness is accepted by everyone else is just too much fun. Start with this and then move on to Courtney Crumrin and Dorothy. It's the perfect way for odd little imaginative/curious girls to grow up.

And for the wee little ones (5-7 or early readers) then just go buy a copy of Tiny Titans. The whole Titans crew is at Sidekick Elementary where Robin, Speedy, Kid Flash, Bat Girl, Wonder Girl and on and on are funny as heck. It's got that Baby Loony Toons feel to it where the humor and snark (gentle snark) seem to go hand in hand. The art is great (of course) but mostly it's just fun. I tried to resist it - really I did - but it got me in the end and I just caved. Sometimes happiness is warm puppy or a bunch of little superheroes. You just have to take the cute and go with it.