#like zombilinium
Short version: Decomposia, princess of the underworld, takes on all the responsibilities of rule when her father falls into a hypochondriac loop. She begins to buckle under the pressure, but finds comfort in the friendship of the castle’s new cook.
What I thought: The first impression we get here is from the art style, which is so adorable and cute you kind of get distracted by it. So when the depth of the writing hits, it feels completely out of the blue, even though all the information was there from page one.
Anyway, once the plot hits, you start understanding what is actually going on here. Watson points out a very large plothole that I’ve seen in every princess story, and which bothers me on a molecular level: royalty means responsibility, it means keeping your kingdom from tearing itself apart, it means foreign relations, and above all, it means shouldering the blame when things go wrong. Disney would have you believe that being a princess is all Twoo Wuv and glittery dresses, but Decomposia spends most of her time signing paperwork and negotiating with spook factions. It’s clearly exhausting on its own, but on top of that, she must care for her ailing father as he will not accept care from anyone else.
Here’s where Count Spatula comes in. He takes an immediate interest in Decomposia, not out of any romantic agenda, but genuine concern that she has not made any time to take care of herself, mind or body. While providing food he becomes her confidante, then close friend. Though she’s far above him in rank, he starts giving her advice, nothing specific, just ways that she can rule the underworld and not burn out, such as the importance of delegating and how to put her own needs at least on the to-do list. Somewhere in all that the king gets word of their friendship, throws a classist fit, and reveals that he has been taking total advantage of Decomposia’s willingness to take all the responsibility of ruling while he enjoys the power. (This shows itself in other ways, as in the foreign dignitaries refusing to speak to her as she is not the king, even accusing her of lying when she says he is not available and that she is more than capable of addressing their concerns).
Great lessons here. The joy of food, the difficulty of power, the difficulty of a wide class-gap between friends, toxic parents, resourcefulness as the ultimate weapon–I’d say this is exactly the sort of graphic that young kids (and older kids) looking to get into the Gothic subculture need in their lives, a great example of how to be. Baby Bats, you can dress like Wednesday Addams and walk around in moonlight all you like, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up cupcakes.
Read if you liked: Zombiliniumby Arthur De Pins, Ghostopolisby Doug TenNapel, Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol, The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton.
