One of the reasons why I picked up Ross Campbell’s WATER BABY is because I enjoyed reading his zombie graphic novel THE ABANDONED. Even though THE ABANDONED was more my style I decided to take a chance on his female centered coming of age drama WATER BABY as it sounded (from reading the synopsis) as a unique and different kind of story.
Brody is a surf girl with everything going for her who has a chance encounter with a shark who bites off her leg. Unable to ever surf again Brody’s life is forever changed and even her best friend Louisa who has always been by her side can not help her. When her ex-boyfriend Jake weasels his way back into her life eating her out of house and home Brody finds herself at the breaking point. Not only does she have to learn to walk with a fake leg, deal with an ex-boyfriend, but she also finds herself plagued by nightmares where she finds herself (or parts of herself) as well as her friends shark food. When she finally can’t take it any more she drags Jake and Louisa on a cross country drive to drop Jake back off at his parents house, no questions asked. It will be a long journey for all but one that will help Brody get back what she lost when the shark took her leg.
The characters in Campbell’s story are far from perfect which allows them to be all the more human as they go through their day to day problems caused by such an extraordinary event. Campbell (who also illustrates) provides lush drawings especially in terms of Brody’s nightmares (which are mostly dialogue-less in an otherwise over-talkative story). This is a far more intimate story then the one he crafted for THE ABANDONED and like all great stories there is no clear cut ending, just the hint that this is just a new beginning in the life of the characters.
Brody is a surf girl with everything going for her who has a chance encounter with a shark who bites off her leg. Unable to ever surf again Brody’s life is forever changed and even her best friend Louisa who has always been by her side can not help her. When her ex-boyfriend Jake weasels his way back into her life eating her out of house and home Brody finds herself at the breaking point. Not only does she have to learn to walk with a fake leg, deal with an ex-boyfriend, but she also finds herself plagued by nightmares where she finds herself (or parts of herself) as well as her friends shark food. When she finally can’t take it any more she drags Jake and Louisa on a cross country drive to drop Jake back off at his parents house, no questions asked. It will be a long journey for all but one that will help Brody get back what she lost when the shark took her leg.
The characters in Campbell’s story are far from perfect which allows them to be all the more human as they go through their day to day problems caused by such an extraordinary event. Campbell (who also illustrates) provides lush drawings especially in terms of Brody’s nightmares (which are mostly dialogue-less in an otherwise over-talkative story). This is a far more intimate story then the one he crafted for THE ABANDONED and like all great stories there is no clear cut ending, just the hint that this is just a new beginning in the life of the characters.
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