"Akissi: Even More Tales of Mischief" by Marguerite Abouet and Mathieu Sapin (Flying Eye / NoBrow)

 

It wouldn't be Christmas with at least one or two books sneaking their way into C's present bundle and "Akissi: Even More Tales of Mischief" was a shoe in for an easy win pressie idea. 

We've previously blogged about the awesome Akissi series on our dearly departed ReadItDaddy Blog (why on EARTH wasn't the first book nominated as a Book of the Week? WHAAAHT?) and once again we couldn't wait to dive into this latest collected and translated edition of the black superstar's misadventures on the Ivory Coast. 

Akissi spends most of this volume in dire fear of being shipped off to Paris to live with her well-meaning but horribly strict Uncle (to be honest, the thought of being shipped off to Paris sounds just the ticket right now!) Akissi knows she'll miss her life, her friends and (pah) even her mouldy older brother with his farty bottom and comes up with numerous ways to convince her Uncle to leave her be. Poems about farts, spitting teachers, crazy monkey antics and of course Akissi's strange obsessiion with kidnapping babies and feeding them garbage stew all feature in this volume to hilarious comic effect. 

As before, Marguerite Abouet expertly draws on her own childhood experiences of both the Ivory Coast and Paris too (as she moved there just like Akissi!), deliciously serving up several rib-tickling (and often quite gross) tales of Akissi's bravery, brains and of course her devilish misbehaviour. 

The strips are at their best when Marguerite and Mathieu dive off into quite surreal territory. This is hugely important for younger comic fans as it shows a pair of creatives knowing their audience well enough to also know that kids are clever enough, and imaginative enough to take a slide into surreality in their stride. 

Drawing on pop culture, African life and the sheer awesomeness of Akissi as a character, this third volume is equally as good as previous volumes and once again has us begging for Flying Eye to see to it that we get more Akissi goodness translated and spun into a gorgeous collectable edition like this. Fabulous comic fun and not just for kids either, there are plenty of hilarious gags in there that will sail straight over your kids head but have you laughing guiltily yourself, identifying fully with what Akissi's long-suffering mum and dad have to put up with!