TIFFANY'S GRIFFON

A self-absorbed fangirl opens up to others after a fantasy portal opens up to her.

Marnie Plummer relishes the Griffon Riders fantasy novels for the escapism and friendship they provide. Extroverted, popular classmates like Tiffany Rodriguez fill Marnie with self-loathing, but the girls’ paths intertwine when the squat blue fairy Orion, who resembles a winged tapir, appears and mistakes Marnie for Tiffany, the chosen one who can save their world from the Witch Elel. Marnie doesn’t correct the mix-up; shouldn’t the glory go to a real fan? Nevertheless, Marnie and Tiffany end up raising a baby griffon together and bonding over each other’s interests. Marnie ushers Tiffany into the worlds of fanfiction and fanart, while Tiffany turns out to be harboring worries over her father’s health as well as a secret same-sex crush. Porter Siddell infuses the evolving friendship and eventual fantasy-adventure with a great sense of humor, for example through Marnie’s looks of disappointment each time cheerleader Tiffany obliviously proves to be a natural chosen one. Built-in meta-humor compounds the laughs as fantasy and reality collide, and a tragically clarifying flashback will have readers as much in tears as the protagonists. Gonzalez’s art, in muted, dusty pastels, effectively uses shadow and light to draw readers’ attention to the dramatic focal points of the varied panels. Blond, bespectacled Marnie reads white; brown-skinned Tiffany is cued Latine.

An emotionally affecting work that explores the power of stories.