Cat Burglar Black

Written & Illustrated by Richard Sala

First Second Press 2009

Approx age 11 & up

Katherine Westree, called K, is different from the average teenager. First, her hair has already turned white, and second, she's a master thief. An orphan, K was raised by a Fagan-like woman, who turned all her wards into pickpockets and other types of ne'er do wells. After Mother Claude dies in a fire, K is sent to a boarding school by a long estranged aunt. Things become quickly familiar to her, as the professors use the students to steal clues to an ancient puzzle. The stakes get higher, as one by one, the teen thieves begin to disappear as the mystery unravels.

Richard Sala cut his teeth as an illustrator in the cut throat market of the 80's. Like others of that time, Joe Piraro of Bizarro fame comes to mind, he eventually returned to his roots as a cartoonist, selling work to big name publications like the New Yorker. Comparisons to Gorey are not unwarranted. Not only are his interests and locales similar, his use of violence while comic, still maintains an air of the sinister. Which makes him so perfect to make a graphic novel for teens. The villains have a Dick Tracey quality to them, their faces and bodies accentuating how up-to-no-good they are. His depiction of the students is such a refreshing departure from most mainstream comics' teen heroines. While things have gotten better since the 90's, they still tend to be chesty, stem-waisted super models. Sala's teens, while still slim, are realistically proportioned, and athletic as befits their characters.

My only complaint with Cat Burglar Black is the pacing increase in the finale. It feels rushed, or that maybe the page count was becoming a looming issue. Still, it ties up rather nicely, leaving a few loose ends and questions, perhaps titillation for a sequel, but most likely because Sala is a strong enough author to know that not all questions need to be answered.

Cat Burglar Black has a very neo gothic feel to it, filled with wicked teachers and perilous traps, while the art has one foot on the bleeding (or at least bloody) edge of comic storytelling. With Sala's help, First Second publishing is poised to steal Scholastic's kid's comic crown.