Graphic novel #3 in the Amazing Ash & Superhero Ah Ma series is an awesome read – the series just keeps getting better, so we are all quite sad that this third book is its final one. Published by Difference Engine, which is an independent comics publisher based in Singapore and inspired by stories from Asia, this graphic novel was indeed one of their best. #2 in the series subtitled “Coming of Age” even won the Best Young Persons Title at the 2023 Singapore Book Awards!
Being a huge fan of Melanie’s for a long time, the kid plunged into reading it once she got her hands on it!
I loved how Ah Ma is referred also as Auntie Annie more this time, which ties in with how we get a closer look into her life and thoughts as an individual. Auntie Annie’s friendship with Pakcik Rizwan’s is heartwarming, and their conversations add a huge dose of comic relief (pun intended, wink).
Throw in an already-wealthy but still-scheming pair of property developers, Auntie Annie getting back her superpowers, and a “ghost show” to spook the superstitious, and you have a real page-turner!
Arif Rafhan’s depictions conveyed the strong emotions felt by Auntie Annie so vividly (pic below displays my favourite pages), as well as the helplessness and reluctance to be a burden to their families that so many elderly folk feel today. It will certainly resonate with many, to see the physical demands of reining in grandparents who try to ‘run off’, well-represented too.
Reading this during the Lunar New Year season where our family visited with so many elderly relatives made me keenly aware of how frailty of mind and body can really creep up so quickly as one ages. It was indeed apt for the author and artist to dedicate this novel to “anyone who deals with growing up and growing old”, which is all of us at some point, really!
It also made me appreciate the relatively good health of my close relatives and the strong bonds between my children and their grandparents mirrored by Ash’s love for her Ah Ma Annie!
To celebrate this, our very own “Ash” and “Annie” read Melanie Lee’s gripping graphic novel that tells the story of not just one family, but so many in Singapore and beyond today.
Purchase your copy now!
9/10 ⭐️
Thanks @DifferenceEngine for sending this over for review!
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