I heart Marissa Meyer. She’s one of my favourite writers. Period. She proved she could tackle superheroes thoughtfully in her Renegades Trilogy, but her imagination doesn’t just stop at prose. It hits graphic novels as well. This week, we’ll focus on her latest rom-com graphic novel release.
The Book
We Could Be Magic
Written by Melissa Meyer
Illustrated by Joelle Murray
Published by Fewer And Friends
We could be. Magic is about magic. Not the magic of wizards and enchanters, but the magic of a theme park. Sommerland is definitely a riff on a more famous magical park, and Tabitha is entranced by it as a kid. She believes it’s one of the most magical places on earth because of the magic of believing in the princesses there. Desiring to become a character, Tabitha applies for a job to achieve that goal. Tabitha, being a larger individual, is met with resistance. She doesn’t get the role right away but has to work her way up to it.
Which in itself is a cool journey to read about. Tabitha starts in the not-so-glamorous job of working concessions. From the very beginning of the story, reality always threatens to dampen Tabitha’s beliefs. At orientation, people were complaining about some of the issues with the park, and for a second, she was tempted to join them, until she bumped into James. Jame, as it turns out, believes in the magic of the place nearly as much as she does. That common ground is the beginning of a friendship.
We then see Tabitha go through the grind of working in the concessions, and to her credit, she makes the most of it after failing her first audition. All the while, though, she doesn’t give up on her dreams of being a princess and gets another opportunity. This time, while not succeeding in being a princess, she gets closer to the character of Kitty Wise, a mascot character.
Undaunted and undeterred by her dreams, Tabitha makes the best of it. With her first assistant being less than ideal, James himself becomes her handler, and it’s one of the coolest parts of the story. James, as it turns out, has worked with the park fall a long time and not only makes sure that Tabitha sees some of the secrets of the park, but also, their friendship begins to become something more.
Right when things seem to find their groove, calamity strikes the ark, and it turns out a missing princess and prince are needed. Is this the opportunity that Tabitha is looking for? Or, will disaster strike? Of course, this is Sommerland, so as expected, magic does happen here, in the unlikelyliest of ways.
Marissa Meyer does a fantastic job of writing about the realities of working at the park. This kind of story has a tendency to be something akin to a hallmark movie, and while it does have a fluffy core, there is some meat involved when it talks about working at a theme park, and I think those little details add to the story. She crafts a very feisty Tabitha who doesn’t give up, and you see her progress in the story, and it’s wonderful.
Joelle Murray does an amazing job with the illustrations in the book. She has this wonderful animated style for this that could easily translate to the screen, and she adds a lot of color and magic to the story Meyer constructs. It’s something you can see in a Hallmark movie, but a little more nuanced and still a lot of fun. Both creators did a magnificent job. I recommend it.
The Business
Kind of nervous as I’m writing this as I leave for Mexico next week. My adventures are going to begin and continue from here. It’s been a blast to recharge for the summer. I’m not sure what to expect going that way, but I expect it’ll be an amazing journey. You can read my Substack about it when I get there. Right now, I’m writing about my experiences at the naturist park, as I’ve finally gotten to write about the summer there.
Podcast is rolling through again on the stack as well. Kevin Lahaie is my current guest, and I have some great episodes coming up to close out the year.
I got one more column I’ll be doing this year before I finish my trip, so I can’t wait. In the meantime, believe in some magi, won’t you?
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