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MIGHTY MITE: THE EARMITE
by
Tony Millionaire
($6.95,
Fantagraphics Books)
Review by Tom Spurgeon
A project like this one can be traced to the success of Millionaire’s
Maakies and
Sock Monkey series, from publishers Fantagraphics and Dark Horse, respectively. Originally appearing in mini-comic form, the deluxe children’s book-style edition of the still-tiny
Mighty Mite: The Earmite offers up Millionaire’s patented mix of acerbic adult satire and storytelling modes common to children’s book illustrations. The particular twist here is a side-by-side storytelling method that provides parallel plotlines both of which relate to a central incident: the separation and eventual reuniting of a chimp character and his ear mite. Beyond the appeal of having a portion of that story told using lovely, flat color very different in tone than what the cartoonist employs on his
Sock Monkey covers, the best thing about
Mighty Mite is the casual treatment of time. One sequence seems like it should last a lot longer than the other, and when the two stories re-join at the end the reader is left to choose between a variety of fanciful reasons how this is possible: differences in the way the characters perceive events due to their relative size, perhaps, or simply authorial whim. The good news here is that if Millionaire is going to be one of those cartoonists whose publishers will make use of any and all past projects, his skill is so light-handed and easy on the eyes to make that kind of treatment frequently pay off.
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