Radiant Comics

I’m back from the comic shop this week and I got threenew comic plus a hard cover collection:

And now for a review of something I’ve read recently.

I bought the first issue of this story way back in 1994. I was going to buy the rest of the series but somehow never saw any other issues on the stands. I’ve been meaning to track it down all these years but never did. I saw this new hardcover printing was coming out and made sure to pre-order it from my local comic shop.

“The Tale of One Bad Rat” is the story of a teenage runaway girl who was a victim of sexual abuse at home by her father. The story is about how she follows the trail of her favorite children’s book author/illlustator Beatrix Potter. From the city to the countryside where Potter passed her later years Helen is walking in Beatrix’s footsteps and trying to come to terms with her own pain.

The art by Talbot is excellent. It’s very illustrative with precise line work and lush watercolors. This book was completed before the age of computer coloring back when an artist really needed to know something about color. And Talbot does. I complain about bad coloring in comics a lot because bad coloring can ruin an otherwise good comic. And good coloring can really sing and bring things to life as it does here.

The end of the story was a little hard to get through because it was so emotional in dealing with Helen’s feelings towards her father who abused her. I think it was handled well and executed well, in a very uncliched manner, but it’s a tough subject.

So if you’re looking for a teenage power fantasy superhero pick me up story (and who isn’t) then look somewhere else. But if you want a well told, beautifully drawn story about a young woman’s journey, both physical and mental, as she moves from a place of pain to a place of hope then check this book out.