Lula the Bearded Girl, the youngest member of Wrinkle's Traveling Circus, trades a snip of her beard hair for a wagon and a rock - but the rock turns out to be an egg that hatches into a strange monster named Chimichanga. Lula quickly uses Chimichanga to bring business back to the circus so they won't have to work in the fish canning plant, but not all the circus folk are happy to see this new guy steal the show. And when Dagmar the Witch uses Lula's hair to create flatulence medicine, a big bad pharmaceutical company decides it's the sole owner of the secret ingredient - Lula!
Chimichanga is written and drawn by Eric Powell, the Eisner Award winner of The Goon, with the colors by Dave Stewart. The graphic novel was originally released in a three-issue mini series from Albatross Exploding Funny Books. The graphic novel compilation is published by Dark Horse Books.
Chimichanga from Albatross Exploding Funny Books and Dark Horse Comics
Chimichanga has an odd premise, with characters just as strange. Dagmar the witch tries to become all powerful, but only cures her gas. In the circus we have weird attractions like Horatio the Boy-faced Fish, and Gene the Indifferent Clown, who I can easily imagine speaking in a flat dead-pan tone. The monster himself, Chimichanga, is scary, unidentifiable, but oddly friendly. And then there's Lula the Bearded Girl.
Even with a face like a cartoony V for Vendetta mask, Lula is a cute little kid, singing a song about her new wagon and the chimichanga she won't share. Her determination to save the circus - "so we all wouldn't have to work in the fish canning plant" - is charming, and its empowering to see how self confident and beautiful Lula feels not in spite of, but because of the beard on her face.
There's a variety of humor in Chimichanga, from a satirical look at corporate America with Dinderly Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to sight gags like Chimichanga attempting to eat an entire elephant in one bite. I particularly like the insufficient, but accurate, titles the circus folk give themselves: "The Amazing Randy, Man with the Strength of a Slightly Larger Man", or "Horace, The Man that once Saw Elvis". Some of the darker jokes might not catch with kids, but the comedy is layered enough that they'll find something to chuckle about even if the bigger picture is lost.
Graphic Novel from Eisner Award Winner Eric Powell
Eric Powell uses great detail to create his green warty witch, or the rumpled face of Mr. Wrinkle, and we get a great sense of the texture of things - I really feel like the clown holding the "Wrinkle's Traveling Circus" sign is made of wood.. But quirkiness defines the book, like the freakishly human face on Horatio the boy-faced fish, or the imaginative appearance of Chimichanga, a creature the book's characters can't even identify. Some of the art definitely stumbles into freaky territory, like the twisted face of the owner of the fish canning plant, and a five-o'-clock shadow on a little girl is going down as one of the strangest things I've ever seen. Then there's close up, sharp-toothed look Chimichanga gives the comic's villain - that's the stuff of nightmares.
Dave Stewart uses muted colors to fill in the characters and backgrounds, giving a great vibe of the dingy circus or the dark industrial building. Blended colors and shading gives characters and objects depth.
Chimichanga by Eric Powell, Colors by Dave Stewart
Eric Powell creates an interesting story with his odd-ball characters and strange-to-terrifying creatures. and Dave Stewart's colors do an excellent job of setting the mood and bringing the comic to life.. The overall oddity of Chimichanga will be off-putting to some readers, but most, from children to adults, will be charmed by the characters and the basic premise of doing your best and finding a place.
Chimichanga gets 4/5
- ISBN: 9781595827555
- MSRP: $14.99 US / $16.99 CAN
- 104 pages
- Dark Horse Books
- Release Date: August 31, 2011
Join the Conversation