Review: Space Dumplins

Space Dumplins by Craig Thompson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While not as flat-out brilliant as Blankets or Habibi, Space Dumplins is a terrific, good-humored, and exciting adventure with enjoyable characters, antic situations, and intricately detailed art. It's fully realized and well-plotted, and doesn't shy away from real emotions or decent environmental points, but it doesn't have the ambiguous and provoking thematic depths of Thompson's other work. Which is fine; he aims for adventure in this graphic novel and I had a terrific time gulping it down like one of his world-eating whales. I look forward to reading it again to catch all the busy specifics in the backgrounds.