Comic Book Review: Oddly Normal Book 1 by Otis Frampton
Life is not good for Oddly Normal (who was named after her great-aunt.) As the product of a human/witch marriage, her green hair and pointed ears make her stand out in her small town elementary school. She’s constantly bullied and treated as a freak. Worse, her parents seem oblivious to just how miserable she really is.
This comes to a head on Oddly’s tenth birthday, when none of the kids her parents made her invite bother to come, only using the moment to further bully her. And then her parents refuse to understand the situation, coming up with excuses for how this isn’t actually happening. It’s no wonder that Oddly makes a wish that they would both disappear. It’s slightly more of a wonder that the wish seems to work, as she’s never shown any magical aptitude before.
While trying to work out what actually happened, Oddly’s aunt takes her to Fignation, the “imaginary” world Oddly’s mother came from. She enrolls her niece in Menagerie Middle School, and Oddly thinks that maybe here she won’t be treated like a freak. Small hope of that–though there do seem to be some kids who aren’t completely horrible. Of course they’re the unpopular, uncool ones. Worse, at least one of the teachers seems to be out to get Oddly for reasons that aren’t exactly clear.
This Image comic book series is by one of the people who creates the How It Should Have Ended webtoons. The first volume collects the first five issues, out of six published as of this writing.
A lot of kids will identify with Oddly; feeling like they’re persecuted for their minor differences; and quite a few older readers will remember the same feelings. It’s made Oddly a somewhat surly loner who’s only sympathetic because she’s the underdog. Given some power, she could easily turn Carrie on her peers. (The sixth issue shows that Oddly has more in common with her mother in that respect than she might have guessed.)
The other characters are fairly stock, with no one really stepping outside their stereotypical roles yet. The series is also suffering from considerable decompression, and the first five issues feel less than a complete story, or even a full five chapters.
I’d say that it would be a good idea for Oddly to succeed at something soon, or show some useful skills or personality traits. As is, she’s just a victim and pinball, bouncing from one miserable event to the next.
The art isn’t bad, but the writing needs to step up. Keep an eye on this series, and if it improves come back and read this.
