Graphic Novel Review - 'Life of Melody' by Mari Costa

Yet another disappointing fantasy and fairy tale graphic novel read. Great concept, the messiest of executions.

Why are there so many of these modern graphic novels that are underdeveloped, poorly structured, and confusing?



Premise/blurb:

Two (supernatural) men and a baby.

In the fairy realm, a Fairy Godparent is tasked with fulfilling fairy tales in the human world. The human protagonist's own motivations and wishes are of little consequences to the fairy working their case. As such, humans are regarded as pretty difficult to work with by the fairies, who otherwise don't seem to know much about them. The fairy Razzmatazz decides that the perfect solution to get around how unaccommodating humans can be is to raise the fairy tale protagonist from infancy to her 18th birthday. Despite his superiors telling him the idea is completely crazy, he commits to it, and by extension, commits to becoming co-parent with a beast named Bon, who found the child at the same time as him.


Razzmatazz and Bon, disguised as humans via glamour, fake being married in the human world, where they raise baby Melody, in spite of and because of each other. They grow to love each other for real in the process. Supposedly.



Problems:

Bizarrely, throughout reading 'Life Of Melody' I regularly forgot that Melody existed. She's not a character; she's a nonentity. Yeah, she's a baby, with not much of a personality to be formed yet, but she should have a presence! She's barely even a plot device to drive and develop Razz and Bon's relationship. This in a book titled 'Life of Melody'. It's not about her or her life.

Melody's birth parents and their possible whereabouts are only brought up once, and then that potential development is completely dropped. Like many ideas and developments in the graphic novel.

I never bought that Razz and Bon ever really liked each other, much less genuinely love one another. Even for a romantic comedy, and even for a haters-to-lovers romance, they are dysfunctional, to the point of being abusive towards each other. There are a few instances of physical violence. And blood. 85% of the graphic novel, they can't stand the other; being together is more trouble than it's worth to them. It's unfortunate because, with better, breezier writing, I could see them being adorable together, to go with their equally potentially adorable characters.

What is up with Razz suddenly having fangs, claws and red eyes near the beginning? Where it's revealed that...what, he's not fully a fairy? This is never brought up again. I kept waiting for it, for a payoff, for it to go somewhere. For Razz's dark side to reappear. For him to form a connection with the beastly Bon based on that, as it was set up to look like that was where it was going. But it didn't.

It doesn't come back. It goes nowhere.

On the subject of discarded character traits, and randomly-introduced-far-too-late character traits, Bon has a third eye. On his forehead, that he has allegedly always had. How? Why? No explanation. It was never noticeable before, and the reader is not made aware of it until near the end of the book. The eye lets him see into people's memories. Plot wise, this only exists to instigate the final conflict between Bon and Razz.

The ending is rushed as hell, too. Too many things happen at once, too quickly, too conveniently, and out of the blue.

Deus ex machinas abound.

Another random character trait added in that they've-always-had-just-take-our-word-for-it: Razz's musical instrument playing. I had to go back to the comic to remind myself that it is the piano he plays! How ridiculous is that?

SHOW DON'T TELL!

There's no solid sense of how much time passes, either. While still in the "first act", as it were, dialogue says that a few months have passed since Razz and Bon have lived together. Then Melody grows old enough to speak words, walk, and even skate. She's the story's unintended time indicator. The main couple themselves don't grow and develop significantly; at least, not until the last few pages. Of the stupidly rushed ending.

Spoiler below:


Do Razzmatazz and Bon seriously both become human at the end, when they finally reconcile and love each other? The LBGTQ couple have to change fundamental parts of themselves - no, their species' -and give up everything about themselves, including where they came from, in order to live in peace together and raise Melody, in an already fantastical setting? What kind of twisted message is that? What about their families back home? AND WHAT ABOUT RAZZMATAZZ'S MONSTROUS SIDE!? WHAT WAS THAT ONE TIME POINTLESSNESS!?

Spoiler end.



'Life of Melody' is a funny and sweet anecdotal comic in some places. But overall it is a cobbled together, messy piece of random stuff happening, with barely any rhyme, reason or explanation.

It's a shame. It had amazing spices, and a fairy dust, of potential.

Final Score: 2/5