Louie O’Connor loves Sasquatch. And why shouldn’t she? The hirsute cryptid put her small town of Southborough, California, on the map. A chance encounter nearly 20 years ago drew all manner of tourist to town, allowing an array of quirky local businesses to thrive, including her dads’ burger restaurant.
But the town has fallen on hard times, and with a Big Tech brat eyeing it for his new headquarters, Louie takes it upon herself to save the town, using the same power of belief that propped it up in the first place.
Through a mix of visual gags, 2000s pop culture nostalgia and charm, writer Mat Heagarty (Unplugged and Unpopular) and artist Steph Mided spin a middle grade tale on the importance of doing what you love in Oni Press’ Martian Ghost Centaur.
It’s an important message for kids, and a reminder that their millennial parents are fast approaching middle age, as the book bathes in fond memories of nu-metal, boy bands, bad American Idol auditions, iMacs that came in colors — y’know, all the fun stuff without the 9/11 and endless wars in the Middle East of it all. All that’s missing is a 10-part special on VH-1 featuring Michael Ian Black and Hal Sparks.
But this story takes place now. With a zoomer girl. Louie has to learn some hard truths about change, her parents and the struggles of small towns, as well as how to make life work on her terms. Truthfully, she seems more immature than her 17 years, but also it’s a middle grade graphic novel, so it’s aimed at a younger audience.
If there’s one thing that throws me, it’s the back-and-forth between real names (Trent Reznor, American Idol, Axe Body Spray, the fact that the techie bad guy is named after the owner of Mission: Comics & Art in San Francisco) and fake ones (Doug “The Boulder” Johansson, MeTube, Woogle). Maybe a lawyer was giving notes like “This’ll get ya sued, this won’t.” But in a book where *NSync is referenced in the same panel that a man wears a shirt that says “Slipmat” in the same font as Slipknot (Kids, ask your parents), it can be a bit jarring.
Mided’s art has a Cartoon Network feel to it, which should make it look familiar yet inviting to its target audience. She also makes sure to populate the world with folk of varying races, body types and sexualities, Louie’s dads being integral to the plot. People reading closely are rewarded with visual gags like T-shirts that say “Squatch says relax” and quaint store names like Trent Reznor’s Tent Rentals. It’s like a kid-friendly Sex Criminals in that regard.
But hey, this is a middle grade book. Let’s hear from the target audience. I had my 9-year-old son look Martian Ghost Centaur over. He told me he liked it, and while he’s not going to write a book report on it giving thoughtful evaluation of the story and art, a 9-year-old’s less eloquently stated approval feels more important in this case than the high-minded pontification of his 40-year-old father. So go for it!
Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.
