Review by Frank Plowright

At eleven Jo endures the tragedy of daily bullying, marked as a target due to her poor background, but her life changes when she frees a one-eyed cat from a trap. She follows it to a junkyard where she meets Rus, also kind and considerate, but at sixteen also picked on at high school for his family’s trade. Jo is a big fan of the Magic Cat TV show, and Rus also loved it when he was younger.

Audra Winslow rapidly induces sympathy for Jo, showing how she’s treated at school in wordless panels, drawn in a simple, but lively and expressive way. Simplicity is key to Jo & Rus, which lets events happen at a slow, natural pace, which is ideal for the younger reader not attracted by manic intensity.

Jo & Rus does follow a well trodden path in accentuating how even loners can find friends with shared interests, but given the audience it’s aimed at there’s a fair chance that it’ll fall into the hands of a reader experiencing their first story about someone finding their confidence. Some might feel the supportive and welcoming environment provided by a change of venue is a little too idealistic, but Winslow’s purpose is empowerment, not a catalogue of depressing reality.

That being the case, dreams feature heavily, and everything winds smoothly to an elegant happy ending for Rus, but Jo’s situation is rather left hanging, which is unsatisfactory as the younger audience are more likely to identify with her. There’s fun and charm here, but Winslow is likely to produce something better in the future.