Review by Ian Keogh
Most of the young readers at whom Young Agatha Christie is aimed won’t have a clue as to who the older Agatha Christie is, which makes for a strange concept. In William Augel’s collection of short humour strips, future mystery writer Agatha very much has a single track mind. Everything to her is a mystery to be solved, whether it’s chatting to Rudyard Kipling to discover the truth of the animals in The Jungle Book or adult topics. She’s accompanied by her rag doll Miss Marple.
It’s a rare strip that extends beyond two pages as Augel applies Agatha’s unique mindset to assorted activities. Many question the conventions of the 19th century’s final decade, in which Victorian morality had reached an apex. Augel derives laughs from the idea of a woman showing an ankle, and his cartooning evokes the period, not shy of furnishings and other trappings.
The strips broadly fall into three categories, two of which are shown on the sample art. On the right is a series of headshots showing Agatha grappling with criminal activity as part of a nursery rhyme or fairy tale, Augel opening the familiar into new territory. On the left is a ‘Miss Marple Mystery’. These are cleverly written by Alep (Michel Jacquet) and scattered throughout the book as puzzle pages. It needs an observant reader to figure out the solution to some, while others are more straightforward, but Alep uses a different type of puzzle on every occasion. Some, though, are too tricky for young English language readers. How many will know it’s traditional to serve french fries with mayonnaise in Belgium, for instance? Readers unable to figure out the answers are directed to solutions in strip form at the back.
It’s the variety of stories forming half the collection making up the far looser third category. These feature cartooning with greater detail than the nursery rhyme sections, and are similar to the gags Augel produced for the Young Mozart and Young Leonardo collections. This selection, though, are far more hit and miss, quality control deserting Augel. At the end of some you’ll be wondering what the point was. Augel remains true to Agatha’s real childhood, so several strips are set in the period her family spent in France.
There’s enough of interest here to ensure young readers enjoy themselves, but the magic of Young Mozart and Young Leonardo is absent. Augel next sets his sights on Katherine Johnson.
