Frankie Comics is a cat comic book that’s based on a webcomic with the same name. Rachel Dukes is the cartoonist and illustrator behind both the upcoming comic book and the webcomic. This comic book is arriving toward the end of August of 2020, just when the world needs wholesome content the most.
If you like Pusheen and Chi’s Sweet Home, Frankie Comics will melt your heart. It follows the everyday adventures of a blue point Siamese cat named Frankie. Frankie is fun, mischievous, and downright adorable as a feline companion and character. She’s just about the cutest cat character since Luna from Sailor Moon. Quite frankly, I’m here for Frankie and all of the kitty goodness she embodies.
Frankie Comics is more rooted in 3D reality than other comics are. Frankie is a cat character that lives with Rachel Dukes and Mike, an IRL artist couple. Rachel Dukes is an LA-based illustrator and cartoonist who graduated from The Center for Cartoon Studies. They run Mixtape Comics, which is how they originally published the webcomics. Fortunately, Oni-Lion Forge Press will be publishing a book version of Frankie Comics on August 25, 2020. Since we’ve been in quarantine all this time, the demand for cat content is especially high.
The comic starts when the couple finds Frankie as a kitten, then shows the precious everyday happenings that go along with raising her. No matter how much mischief Frankie makes, she manages to steal the couple’s hearts over and over again. Cat lovers will appreciate this book because they’ll relate to most of what it talks about: daily life with a cat and all the cute chaos that comes with it. Each comic is a testament to the cuteness that comes with having a cat companion, no matter how messy, wacky, or hilarious it gets.
Rachel Dukes’ art style is on point. Frankie’s design reminds me of the characters in Fairly Odd Parents, an old school cartoon from 2001 I’m still nostalgic about. Those big blue eyes paired with the black-and-white contrast make her character design simple yet striking. Frankie’s character design isn’t quite as simple as Pusheen’s, but like Pusheen, there’s so much power in her simplicity. Frankie’s eyes only consist of 3 circles, yet they’re some of the most outstanding cartoon eyes I’ve seen next to anime eyes. It proves that a drawing doesn’t have to be elaborate in order to be compelling, cute, or high-quality.
I’ve never encountered comics that are formatted quite like these. Instead of arranging the images into panels, they’re centered in the middle of the page. Reading this book is a matter of taking in the images as your eyes drift down to absorb the story. Think of it as a relaxing stroll for your eyes that makes for an easy reading experience. This format doesn’t interfere with the storytelling because each comic has its own funny story or joke to tell.
I recommend Frankie Comics to fellow cat lovers and anyone who’s into indie comics. If you need more cuteness in your life, preorder your copy of Frankie Comics at Amazon or Barnes and Noble today. Thanks for reading!
