The Cute Girl Network
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The Cute Girl Network is a 2013 graphic novel written by Greg Means and M. K. Reed, with art by Joe Flood. It was published by First Second Books.
Synopsis
[edit]When skateboard shop employee Jane becomes romantically interested in food cart operator Jack, she learns of the existence of the Network — an assembly of local single women who share information about the negative qualities of local single men, and who all recommend that she not pursue him.
Reception
[edit]Publishers Weekly described The Cute Girl Network as "a fun, fresh take on romance with a fascinating subtext about gender relations", and extolled the "snappy dialogue" and the "refreshing and reassuring" message.[1]
School Library Journal noted its "cartoon-like artwork" and "standard romantic comedy plot", and emphasized that it has "strong characters and emotional power", and is "minor" but "easy to love".[2]
Comic Book Resources found the story to be "adorable", and commended Means and Reed for "mak[ing] the tired will-they-won't-they storyline feel surprisingly fresh and relevant" and "get[ting] so many of the little things right", but nonetheless faulted Jack as "almost unbelievably stupid", Jane as filling too many "super-cool skater chick cliches", and Jack's roommates as "carelessly rendered".[3]
Paste considered it to be "warm, delightful, and occasionally surprising", and lauded Flood's portrayal of people for its "expressiveness", its "appealing simplicity", and its "nicely-varied cast, in terms of ethnicity [and] body type", but observed that when Flood illustrates backgrounds and environments, the level of detail "can be almost tiring": "a strange kind of excess, one that isn’t aiming to be showy, just kind of compulsively complete."[4]
At BoingBoing, Cory Doctorow called it "hilarious and sweet (....) without being saccharine", and compared it to the work of Kyle Baker.[5]
Setting
[edit]Cute Girl Network is set in the fictional city of "Brookport", a deliberate hybrid of Brooklyn (M. K. Reed's home) and Portland (Greg Means' home).[6]
References
[edit]- ^ The Cute Girl Network , reviewed at Publishers Weekly; published September 23, 2013; retrieved December 5, 2021
- ^ Graphic Novel Round-up at School Library Journal; by Mark Flowers; published December 2, 2013; retrieved December 5, 2021
- ^ Cute Girl Network, reviewed by Marykate Jasper, at Comic Book Resources; published November 22, 2013; retrieved December 5, 2021
- ^ The Cute Girl Network by Greg Means, M.K. Reed, & Joe Flood, reviewed by Hillary Brown, in Paste; published November 7, 2013; retrieved December 5, 2021
- ^ Cute Girl Network: adorable, illustrated skate-punk love-story, by Cory Doctorow, at BoingBoing; published October 13, 2013; retrieved December 5, 2021
- ^ The Cute Girl Network: Interview!, by Rebecca Angel; at GeekMom.com; published October 31, 2013; retrieved December 5, 2021
External links
[edit]- Official site (via archive.org)
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