Lackadaisy: Volume #1 - Tracy Butler

Summary: St. Louis 1927.

Times change. Laws change. People still want booze.

For the better part of a decade, hidden beneath the inconspicuous Little Daisy Cafe, the city's best-kept secret has slaked the thirst of a prohibition-wearied populace.

Lackadaisy.

Unfortunately, the once raucous and roaring speakeasy now rests at a crossroads, its golden age seemingly at an end. Lackadaisy's remaining loyalists are left with few options.

But with all the cunning, tenacity, and sly ingenuity they can muster, they might just have a chance.

And if that doesn't work, fire does. (image and summary from goodreads.com)

My Review: I have been following Lackadaisy since it first began posting as a webcomic many years ago.  I fell in love with the world, the art, the anthropomorphic cat people in 20s era garb, and the delightful characters.  

Lackadaisy is such a clever and witty comic, filled with cunning dialogue, quick thinking, and funny situations.  Each character is rounded in their own way, and together make for some fun dialogue and situations.  It's actually really quite difficult to pick a favorite character, to be honest, because they're just that well written.  Tracy has also done her research into this era (and in the back of this book is a list of references that add depth to this world). Cats though the characters may be, they feel real.

The art is also stunning. Tracy has a remarkable grip on facial expressions (in particular, the character Rocky gets some stellar faces).  She fully illustrates backgrounds with buildings and interiors, giving this world a very authentic feel.  I love the different cats she uses for her characters, and how their styles fit their personalities.  This comic, in my opinion, is a perfect marriage of writing and art. 

The full comic (up to the most current page, that is, it's still a work in progress) is online at lackadaisycats.com, and I highly recommend it, and seeing how her art has progressed even further, each page a small masterpiece. 

This first volume book includes several pages at the end filled with original character designs, test comics, silly side comics that delve a little bit more into back and side stories of the characters, and some art tutorials as well as some full color pages.

Comic though it is, I would suggest it for an older audience.  The art and characters are fun, but a younger child might not be interested in the subject matter (as well as some of the items in the sensitive reader area below)

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

For the sensitive reader: this story takes place in the 20s during prohibition, so there is lots of alcohol bootlegging, alcohol consumption, rival bootleggers shooting each other down, and language.