Broken Frontier

Limmy tracks down Mr. Groundhog in the cold, dark lair of Ichabod Frost but can he complete the rescue without being trapped himself?

Stories for children are mysterious things; they must be simple to a degree and challenging also– but not too much. Kids can get bored easily by some texts yet will sit content for hours under the latest phone-book sized Harry Potter. Kid’s stories, unlike stories for adults, have a moral responsibility and not just to ensure that the content is suitable. Bullock appears to be developing what could become something of a canon for children’s comic books. His stories are classic fantasy and fairy tale with an infectious good vibe and sense of adventure.

The story of the Gimoles has evolved from a poem and I wish the book had retained some of those elements. Some of the best kids’ stories are full of rhyme and word-play and this can be seen to a certain extent in the first issue but not so much in the second. The dialogue is fairly matter-of-fact and that prevents the rather charming concept from becoming fully engaging.

It will be no surprise for those familiar with Bain’s artwork to hear that much of the magic of this comic emanates directly from his wonderfully expressive characters. His Gimole family are the very image of selfless heroes and his villains are superbly realised also. My only complaint is that his pages are very measured and deliberately spaced and quite often his characters look a little lost on the page. I think it would be great if Bain and Bullock could fit more panels onto each page or more into each panel. Not only would it give the overall comic a more satisfying amount of story but it would leave less blank space across the page.

It has become apparent that the future of The Gimoles is uncertain. Certainly, the comics will come out eventually but when and in what form is unknown. I’d like to think that there will not be too much of a delay as there are plenty of children, not to mention young-at-heart adults, eager to find out whether or not spring will ever return to the land. While this comic is a little too light for my tastes, I can certainly appreciate its appeal and hope that this kind of earnest storytelling can continue untarnished.