Bludzee
When we first meet Bludzee, he’s just a little kitten, abandoned in a flat and trying to make sense of his life, mostly by using the internet. He’s cute, and like farting and licking his own butt.
Lewis Trondheim’s graphic novel is a French comic that Sloth Comics have brought out in translation – this is the same publisher that has my Hopeless, Maine books so I have biases. I also don’t review things unless I like them.
This is a book that made me chuckle repeatedly. It’s not emotionally demanding and the story is engaging but doesn’t require much effort. It’s good if you want some low stakes recreational reading. The world building is really good, and unfolds around you as Bludzee tries to figure out how things work (how do you tell between an elevator and a store cupboard?). As we go along it becomes more obvious that this is an unfamiliar sort of world, and I really enjoyed how this was handled in the storytelling.
If you read the back blurb or sales pitch it’s obvious that Bludzee is supposed to be an assassin. For anyone who has ever spent time with a small, black psycho-kitty, this will make immediate sense. He has the serious murder-mittens, even by usual attack-kitten standards. However, he’s not actually keen on killing things and would far rather eat kibble than anything resembling other creatures.
The art in this book is simple, stylish and easy to read. I struggle sometimes with images and don’t find all comics easy to tackle, so I really appreciate having an art style that makes immediate sense and page layouts that are easy to follow. I also don’t enjoy comics that shift perspective and angles a lot as that makes it harder for me to make sense of what’s going on, and Bludzee stays well away from all of that.
It’s a big comic, it took me a few sessions to read the whole thing and I very much enjoyed it. It’s not a profound or life altering sort of story, but sometimes that’s not what you want. It’s good entertainment, well delivered and entirely pleasing, clever enough to be engaging and easy enough not to be tiring. A perfect balance for a bit of escapism and amusement.
More on the Sloth Comics website – https://www.slothcomics.co.uk/project/bludzee-newly-released/#
