I wanted to give Nutmeg another shot after my first review. Again the idea of two teenagers baking up revenge just sounds so damn cool. Unfortunately, I felt like the concept never really got a good hold. So let’s crack some eggs in this issue and dive right into the suspense of Nutmeg. Cassia is still straight up pissed at Saffron. I still think Cassia is overreacting to the whole situation from issue #1, but I guess there are little things that I get pissed about too. So she must plot her revenge and what better to do this than with baked goods and a best friend. Yeah I couldn’t think of a better way either. But she still needs to convince Poppy of her plan.
Poppy seems like the girl good. She doesn’t want to make waves, but sometimes if you don’t make waves, it almost feels like you are giving into it all. So I don’t think Cassia does this on purpose but the girls just so happen to walk in on Saffron and her league of mean girls while they are gossiping in the bathroom. Of course their gossip consists of selling brownies for The Lady Rangers. Saffron doesn’t seem to have a good bone in her body and since her rival with Poppy has only grown over the years, she disses the girls once again.
Now it is time to take action. This is where the comic takes some flight. The girls finally get their hands dirty with some baking. I love how James F. Wright writes this part. He doesn’t just have the girls talk about baking but he shows it. I want more of this. This is want I expected the comic to be. Do I think it is perfect? Well no, but that’s a challenge to incorporate cooking with comics and still make it readable. So I still think the comic could use some work. I would love the girls bouncing ideas off of one another of what to bake and really give inspiration to the reader.
Anyways, the plan is a good one and has the potential to take down Saffron, but there has to be some consequences to it right? I guess the readers will find out. I don’t think Saffron will just fold over though. It would be great to again see this plot of revenge play out back and forth for a bit until everything hits the fan.
The art is great and is done by Jackie Croft. She really captures that schoolgirl with a flare vibe. The coloring is exactly what you would expect in a bakery; pastel and playful, so it works well for the whole theme. The characters have this Saturday morning cartoon feel to them that I totally dig. But I feel like the vibe of the art and the direction of the comic are two different things. One moment, you think it is for kids and will be funny then the next you wonder where the laughs are.
I feel like throughout this review I keep going back to plot. So yeah, some things need massive improvements just to make the story flow better and make the comic live up to the hype. Other instances, like the girls and backdrop are perfectly laid out. It would be hard for me to give up on Nutmeg now, but one more issue will do it. If things don’t start to flow, such as the dialogue and overall conflict, then this will be one dessert that I don’t indulge in.
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