Charles thinks he's going to hate the new town his parents moved to, Echo City. His father has just been appointed the new caretaker of a former hotel and his family gets to live in the building for free as it's being renovated into an apartment complex. While his room is like a tiny prison cell, Charles does like all the cool stuff his dad finds that past tenants have left behind. An aspiring news reporter, Charles writes about these things on a blog during his downtime. But he's still not happy with the move.
One night, while Charles is asleep, something strange comes into his room and steals some of his stuff, including a beloved action. Desperate to get his toy back and eager for answers, Charles is given a business card from one of the new friends he's made in hopes of helping him out.
Help comes in the form of Margo Maloo, a girl of about 10 whose got some serious street smarts. The young lady also has a mysterious connection with the monsters, goblins, and ghosts that secretly dwell in Echo City and she assists Charles in negotiating with a troll in his building's basement for his missing items.
Smelling the scoop of the century, Charles becomes Margo's assistant, documenting away as the young slueth solves supernatural related crimes for both the humans and monsters throughout Echo City. Why, by the end of the duo's first caper, Charles just might also find himself liking his new hometown.
Where was this book when I was a kid? It would have been an all-time favorite of mine!
Where was this book last year? I would have added it to my best of 2016 review!
The answer to the first question is that this series wasn't invented yet when I was a kid. Aa for the latter, the book was floating around the children's graphic novels section, I just didn't notice it until too late. But I'm noticing it now and I love it!
This 2016 book from First Second is actually a collection of strips from artist/ author Drew Weing. Two years ago, the Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo was started as web-comic that issued forth new pages every couple of days. As is becoming a trend with web series like this one, when an artist has enough source material, and financial backing, they get published in print too!
Along with a reprinting the first strip, City of Monsters, Weing also includes 2 book-only adventures, The Ghost in the Post and the Ogre's Baby. That's right, you can only find those full-length tales in print. Hopefully, the current adventure of Margo and Charles, Panic in the Attic will see physical publication sometime soon. (I know I could go ahead and read this story online, but I really love paper!)
The neat thing about this comic is what it really is deep down: Margo Maloo is really Sherlock Holmes. I also enjoy that it's done in such a way without being a knockoff or parody. Still not convinced? Think about it for a moment. Both Sherlock and Margo make excellent deductions. Both have a certain knack with secret societies, informants, and back alley meeting places. And Charles is Doctor Watson, as they both record their brilliant detective buddy's amazing adventures. The only difference is that Sherlock's spooky adventures were always found to be science related; he never dealt with actual monsters.
I love this new series that is equally parts fun, spooky, and oh so mysterious. The book is recommended for ages 8-12 but I think older kids and adults (like me) will enjoy this graphic novel collection as well. This series is silly at times. But it's also very smart with a lot of the clues being peppered in throughout. Weing's art is really amazing and after the read through each mystery, you're going to want to go back and examine each and every corner of Echo City.
Drew Weing has created a really awesome little universe here with Margo, Charles, and the monsters who occupy Echo City. It's a place I want to visit again and again. I think the young graphic novel reader in your life will too!
Worth Consuming
Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.
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