 |
Soling’s out-of-the-box writing style is on full display, bursting with candor in this graphic novel featuring a jolly elf with magical powers who incessantly sings “Get up and Boogie,” among other seventies hits at 4 AM, much to the dread of his sleep-deprived neighbors. The story, set in a remote area of Cuba, is pure entertainment on the surface, a peculiar concoction of a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale that encountered the sublimity of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Digging deeper, however, there are a number of themes that emerge and beg to be contemplated, creating an unsuspecting but fulfilling read.
Indeed, the irony is not lost on audiences that this jolly elf is truly terrorizing his community. The imagery of illustrator Steve Kille is downright haunting, especially of the elf with the shrunken heads, unhinged in every way, drunk on power and his ability to be a disruptive force. Satire is front and center in the work, but truly, contemplating the townsfolk perusing the Yellow Pages to find a solution—a knight seeking glory—to their elf problem is both comical and brilliant. It takes readers from the late twentieth century on a trip down memory lane, when the Yellow Pages were a routine fixture in every household.
Coconut Valley, where the townsfolk reside, is suffering a real estate meltdown due to the elf, and undeterred, they stage a revolt, gathering a mob to lynch the elf once and for all. Soling’s knack for irony and comedic timing is impeccable here. When the elf casts a spell to immobilize the entire mob, the mayor is the only one who is immune to it. The tongue-in-cheek reason for this is that he already lives the immobilized life of a politician when it comes to creating change in the community.
Soling’s storytelling ability, through words and illustrations alike, takes what could be a simple plot and turns it into a commentary on society and life itself. From dealing with a big, powerful nuisance—a Goliath, so to speak—to the real-estate meltdown and incompetent politicians, readers gain a comprehensive snapshot of how Soling perceives the world. What’s more intriguing is the singing elf, who is so engrossed with himself that he needs the whole of Coconut Valley to revolve around him, to be disturbed by him. Ironically, when the townsmen are unable to be disturbed by his song, it is the elf who becomes troubled by his inability to trouble others.
The storytelling comes across as effortless, yet there is a tremendous amount of subtext and hidden meaning. Even with the character of the Jolly Elf, how can one truly demonize an elf who sings and is always merry? Entirely on the strength of this one character, the plot stands tall and is incredibly dynamic. Above all else, Soling’s work simultaneously works to provide a thoroughly entertaining experience that is rooted in introspection and commentary on the pulse of society, a true outlier in both form and function that holds the potential to engage all audiences looking to have a wholesome literary experience.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review