Comics / Manga

Divalicious!: Volume 1

By Leroy Douresseaux
February 26, 2007 - 16:40

Tina Young is an up-and-coming bubblegum pop diva, but she doesn't let her youth and inexperience temper her ambition.  Tina is bossy and outspoken, and she's already left her first pop group, Young and the RRRestless, for a solo career.  Tina even dates a thuggish, gangsta rapper named Chaddy G, which annoys her loyal assistant, Shaquille, to no end.

As she claws her way to the top of the pop ladder, Tina must face obstacles.  Her main rival, Bit Fencer (the Britney Spears to Tina's Christina Aguilera), has been in the music business a little longer and has more hits.  Just when it seems as if Tina is making headway at surpassing Fencer, she encounters a new rival, the seemingly squeaky clean, Joy Blue, and Tina's management firm, Talent Farm, doesn't seem up to the task of making Tina a megastar.  Meanwhile, a teenaged fan named Stephina seems to be getting a bit too close to Tina, as far as Shaquille is concerned.  Between Chaddy G and Stephina, Shaquille may have his hands too full babysitting an impressionable young star.

Divalicious!, Vol. 1 really isn't a satire of music industry.  It's more like a romp through the music business, or maybe something of a farce.  Writer T Campbell (comics creator and Internet writer/editor) clearly realizes that the heyday of the "baby divas" or "bubblegum pop princesses" (late 90's to about 2002) is over.  Campbell sets the tale closer to now when these manufactured pop stars have to struggle for audience attention with more serious recording artists.  Teen idols also face a public that is less tolerant (if not downright hostile) to these pop princesses' public personas, attitudes, and music.

Strange as it may seem, artist Amy Mebberson, who worked as an animator for Disneytoons Sydney (which is now apparently closed), draws in a style that reminds me of Roberta Gregory and Phil Foglio, although her comics are for the PG-set.  She's adept at capturing the quite moments of these music biz figures when they have to be people with responsibilities to others.  She also gets the essence of mania and non-stop working and battling to get to the top of the ferociously competitive music industry.  When cartooning the human figure and face, Mebberson understands that these characters must convey plot, setting, and character.  She gets that they must be different people at different times.

Divalicious! is good, but not great, although the creators clearly understand their characters.  I think anyone who follows pop culture, in particularly the art, commerce, and politics of music entertainment produced by giant corporations will recognize a lot of the material in this OEL Manga.  It's not necessarily an insider's take, but rather a long, lingering gaze at the hunger for wealth, fame, and power over others.

7/10

Thanks to barnesandnoble.com for the images.

I write movie reviews at http://www.negromancer.com.

 

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12