Review by Ian Keogh

Brian Reyes was a normal happy child until a unicorn horn started growing from his head. Worse, it likes to sing. And that’s not all, as within the first few pages Brian’s also met a talking muffin, a strange cat and transformed into a superhero.

Dave Roman’s not one for taking the tragic and introspective path. A viable light tone prevails all the way through, and surreal touches continue to characterise Brian’s adventures, which are drawn in a plain cartoon style designed to communicate to all ages. Because that’s the audience, the supernatural elements manifesting halfway through are illustrated in a way designed to generate a shiver of anticipation rather than full-on fright.

Unicorn Boy’s adventures are an episodic trail of surreal discoveries, primarily generated as he tries to rescue his mate Avery from shadow creatures, and punctuated by frequent flashbacks. Roman’s humour verges from the surreal to the sarcastic, although not too sarcastic, as Brian meets some interesting people and has to cope with some creatively ridiculous situations. One delight is the Underworld run as some middle management office.

Despite lurching from one creatively contrived situation to another, the quest is more than enough to stitch Unicorn Boy together, and Roman never runs short of funny ideas. Cats literally have nine lives, the songs the horn sings are funny, and Avery a joyful supporting character.

There’s very little wrong here. Children who can read will giggle through every page, and adults reading it to children will find enough to engage them as well. Unicorn Boy’s a winner, and more volumes are promised.