Adrienne Adkins' cartooning and storytelling are smart and expressive, even if her line is a bit rough at the moment. Adkins certainly has no lack of imagination and a pretty wide range of storytelling interests. Be Not Afraid Of Bella Vol 1 posits a relationship between a person and what turns out to be an angel named Bella. The angel's form is hideous: a giant eyeball with wings, teeth, hands, and feet. However, its personality is like that of a highly insistent dog who's trying to steal meat from its owner's plates. However, this dog can bend time and space (as cleverly personified by the angel reaching around and between panels), until the person relents and hands over some steak. This is a clever, well-paced comic, even if the actual drawing isn't all that interesting.
XxStarwolfxX is about a girl named Emma playing an online fantasy game with a friend where the characters are wolves. Her Starwolf is about to get revenge on a player named Redwolf for burning down her forest when the player behind Redwolf has to do something for their parents. It's revealed that Emma has been suspended for assaulting a boy at school but won't tell her parents why, and the boy's family is suing. The beauty of this comic is the way in which Adkins provides clues as to why she did it without explicitly saying it, with the metaphor of the forest being burned down echoing the forest design on her shirt. She's desperately trying to escape the rage that led her to beat the boy down and the words he said to her to spark that fury. Once again, the composition and cartooning are excellent, but the execution (especially the lettering) is a little rough. Those aspects of Adkins' work will be sharpened over time, but they already have a lot to say and know how to say it.
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