REVIEW: Tabby Vol. 1

G“Day Crusaders,

This is Dodgy86 in the mix, bringing you Tabby by Stephen Kok with art by P.R. Dedelis and Eric Gravel.Â Proudly Published by Sigmate Studio.

We are acquainted with Tabby, the titular character who in fact is a pussy cat. From his owner’s perspective he eats and sleeps all day. The reality is he’s busy, he has a female pussy on-the-side and two kids. Whilst the owners are away he does what it takes to support his partner Poppy and his two kids Kit and Tabby Junior. These cats are orange with black stripes.

Later on we Kuro and his family, his partner Rei and their kids Kyo and Cait. This family of cats are doing it tough, they live on the street and nothing is taken for granted. These cats are black and white strays who live as if everyday is their last. There have to dig for food and also out run being captured by animal control. Their local Fish Shop is closed for renovations, now Kuro and his family now have to find somewhere else to source their food.

Tabby’s son Tabby Junior who’s running late to meet up for the family lunch in the park, he accidentally collides with Kuro’s daughter Cait. Their look at each other briefly and its love at first sight, and because Junior’s late they go their separate ways.

Kuro and his family spy on Tabby’s and pounce by stealing their fish. Tabby approaches Kuro and a fight breaks out between the men of the families. Meanwhile local tenants complain about the ruckus in the alley ways and call animal control to rid the pesky felines.

Tabby Junior and Cait meet once again and beg their fathers to stop fighting and then they have to deal with avoiding the clutches of the representative of animal control.

This felt it had a taste of Romeo and Juliet inserted into this story between Tabby Junior and Cait, a member of two rivalled families who become star-crossed lovers. This is an all ages book that is tailored towards children, in saying that it is not childish. There is no slapstick humour or anything there to make kids laugh, it’s a coming of age story and teaches to be accepting to others. I was a bit thrown at first because its lengthy at 65 pages I thought it would be stretched, however it is well-paced and didn’t feel that long.

One other key highlight, the cat characters had no dialogue. Only the humans spoke and the other text came from the narrative. This meant the cats played charades and it worked, it meant we had to pay close attention to the pictures to make out whats happening. Its different and it worked for me.

The comic from 0 to 10 year olds, where kids can use imagination when reading and looking at the pages. Do ya’self a favor and let your kids check this out!

This book is available at Libraries in Australia and New Zealand as well as Book Stores. Overseas buyers please contact Sigmatestudio.com on sigmatestudio@sigmatestudio.com.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Also look up Stephen Kok’s work on Kickstarter called 5 Seconds!

Author Profile

Shane Tydeman

The Wonder from Down Under,
Dodgy is a senior contributor to Comic Crusaders. Co-Host of The Yeah-Nah Wepa Show! An advocate of indie comics and is creator of Indie Comics podcasts Flipside Focus, Sunderkatz and Think Indie Podcast!

An unapologetic movie fan, NBA fan, action figure, trading card fan! Also an advocate for Depression awareness!