The Comet

Writer / Artist
RATING:
The Comet
The Comet graphic novel review
SAMPLE IMAGE 
SAMPLE IMAGE 
  • UK publisher / ISBN: Flying Eye - 978-1-83874-124-2
  • Release date: 2025
  • UPC: 9781838741242
  • Contains adult content?: no
  • Does this pass the Bechdel test?: no
  • Positive minority portrayal?: no

Flying Eye have a track record of producing beautifully illustrated graphic novels for young children, and Joe Todd-Stanton’s The Comet falls squarely within that category. It’s also idyllic, imaginative and comforting in showing the life of Nyla having to accept a change taking her away from the familiar.

The sample art is pre-move with Nyla and her father still living remotely near the coast, with the opportunities reflected in her daily life and the pictures she draws. Her father, however, takes a new job that entails moving to the city, where the activities are fewer and he has to spend more time working and less with her. Nyla’s fears are shown in the more timid way she behaves, peering over surfaces and peeking out from behind her father while holding on to him.

Life changes when she’s alone one night and sees a tree sprout from where a comet has landed and the magic begins to take effect.

Stanton applies a touch of magical realism to what follows, a scene shown on the cover, which is a type of creative leap children make far more easily than adults. It prompts a burst of creativity and the realisation that some circumstances can be changed to suit your personality.

The illustration is awe-inspiring, beautiful to look at, sparking the imagination, and with so much to discover, especially when the book has to be turned on its side to appreciate Nyla and her father visiting the other residents in their block. That’s far from the only occasion, but is the most packed.

All in all, gorgeous.

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