Review by Ian Keogh

Malcolm hasn’t got a lot going for him other than self-belief. How sad a specimen is he? Well the thug robbing everyone in the train carriage ends up giving Malcolm a granola bar in preference to stealing his wonky keyboard. When that keyboard breaks it seems the end of Malcolm’s gig with a restaurant band, but better days are coming.

If the description makes Malcolm and the Perfect Song sound miserable, that’s far from the case. You’d not know it from the confident writing, but this is Austin Paramore’s first graphic novel, and he has a pleasingly light touch when creating comedy drama and a fine way with naturalistic conversations. That connects with an ability to supply people to believe in where everyone has motivations, ideas aren’t hammered home, and the weirdness slots naturally into the established tone.

Sarah Bollinger takes an already amusing script and sparkles it into life with appealing personalities, confident storytelling and delightful flights of fancy when the script calls for it. She also brings the past to life, and all within cartoon realism.

While the preludes are fun, the story really kicks off when Malcolm picks up a new keyboard and soon concludes it’s haunted because every night he has a dream about meeting the same old piano player. He’s right, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and where the element of the perfect song enters the process. Everything has been captivating featuring Malcolm and his friend January, but the injection of a quest elevates this higher as Paramore explores the past and delivers a need to find some old gear. Paramore has an pleasing solution for where it is as well.

There’s no shortage of really good graphic novels aimed at young adults, but even so Malcolm Kid and the Perfect Song ranks high. You can believe in the people, the art is great and Paramore ties everything together really neatly. Both creators are going to go far.