SIZE MATTERS: The Mini-Comics Blog

Lou Season by David Yoder

Lou Season is a two part story about a hapless duck named Lou. After his human parents pull some strings to get him into human school, his school debut is ruined by a very unfortunate haircut. Well the haircut and the fact that he’s a duck. His classmates immediately target Lou for abuse, and up to a point he takes their teasing. Luckily, Lou meets a girl named Sally who treats him as a friend, but even more significant, he takes a shine to Candice, the class gerbil.

Lou Season is cutesy in that “Awww, look at the talking animals” way, but Yoder infuses it with enough emotion from our own childhood experiences that it’s relevant. Maybe you weren’t the one picked on in school, but you’re hopefully old enough to empathize with those that were. Lou is one of those misunderstood kids that find solace in escaping from his peers, but in doing so he ignores the girl Sally who aches to be closer to Lou. Oblivious to Sally, Lou treats Candice as his friend and confidant, even though she can only manage a few squeaks in response to Lou’s conversation.

Issue one of Lou Season is breezy and carefree; duck and gerbil have fun in the park and Yoder includes a page of trading cards featuring the four main characters from the story. Issue two gets kind of hairy though, as Candice is stolen from Lou’s room. The gerbil-napper leaves a note and Lou retaliates in an unexpectedly violent manner.

Yoder’s art is boldly brush inked giving his lines a lot of depth. Joey Weiser inks the first issue and David does the second. I enjoyed the cartoony art a great deal; he does a nice job on sound effects and concentrates on only the details that matter to the story.

Lou Season is a wonderful two-part story appropriate for any age group. Each mini-comic is 26 black and white pages and you can email David Yoder through his website. While you’re there Yoder has plenty of online strips for you to read including You Want to Know How I Make Comics?!!?.

I love this back cover with Doug Frey (The Magpie).

Now, go check out Yoder's website and have some fun.