Thursday, September 19, 2019

"Best Bear Ever," by Liz Climo is a Delight!

I have encountered the comics of Liz Climo online often from people who share my enthusiasm for her funny and oftentimes sweet cartoons of animals doing funny stuff. With this in mind I picked-up a copy of one of her books collecting her works, "Best Bear Ever," which follows a theme of going through a year from Spring, to Summer, to Fall, and of course Winter, with a number of comics themed for those seasons or which are just funny in general.

Ms. Climo says in the introduction of her book she wanted to create comics that were sweet and humorous as opposed to all the negative, mean, and otherwise nasty material we at times find online. I would say she succeeded wonderfully as all of the comics in, "Best Bear Ever," are a treat. Climo has a sense of humor that is both a bit dry yet still gentle and sweet, resulting in comics that make you laugh without feeling as if you're guffawing at anyone's expense--it is just good-natured fun.

Any comic with a Duckbilled Platypus is a winner for me!
Climo's art is clean and precise, with many of her scenes relatively minimalist except for the main characters in a strip and any objects that are directly important. This scaled-back style makes what we do see on the page--the animals--especially stand-out and draw our full attention as they do an assortment of humorous and otherwise enjoyable things. Climo does not outright anthropomorphize her creations, with some standing upright but many looking quiet natural still, giving her creations a cartoony-vibe without seeming too foreign/abstract to our eyes when we see the adorable critters.
"Best Bear Ever," is a delight of a book, full of fantastic comics that made me smile and giggle a good deal as I read it. Between her masterful sense of humor and fantastic artwork she knows how to make a stellar comic, and does so repeatedly throughout this awesome book. I rate, "Best Bear Ever," a glowing 5 out of 5 stars and would encourage everyone to check it out!

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