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Peach Fuzz Volume 1

Ever since TOKYOPOP started it’s Rising Stars of Manga competition, more and more fresh vital talent has been injected into the AmeriManga bloodlines over the years. And with that a fresh infusion of AmeriManga storytelling has taken hold, giving each company (in turn) more and more reason to open their once tightly sealed shut doors to fresh talent (lest they be left behind in the evolution of the art form, doomed to failure and eventual ruin). So, with that in mind, let’s look at one of the many talents to have come from the opening of the doors over at TOKYOPOP to fresh talent. Peach Fuzz, by Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges.

Do you own a pet, or does your pet own you?
Maybe lonely nine year old Amanda should have asked herself that question (and a host of other questions) before spending the long time and effort to wear down her professional mom (who seems to be some sort of headhunter for people looking for a house, though (and this is one of the failings of Peach Fuzz) the title doesn’t really go into much detail about the mom). Yes, the mom is NOT the main character, but she is a secondary character… do I need to dissect the book in whole just to learn more about her? No. Didn’t think so. Yes, the title is about Amanda and her ferret Peach (who has her own strange unique mindset as you’re about to find out) but spending sometime to also making us more at home in the “world” of Amanda, and giving us more than just the incidential info on stuff like her mom and friends would have been nice. Why? Because it would have made the immersion into the world (and it’s characters) that much more complete.

But like I said before we’re here for Amanda and the ferret.
Amanda, looking about the pet store her mom took her to, decides she wants a pet with that special unique something (a pet as a status symbol is so wrong on so many areas I can’t tell you how bad her thought processes are going). She is almost daunted by the averageness of her choices, that is until she sees the Ferret case, without realizing that she was about to take part in the invasion of the Soverign Kingdom of Kibble… say what?

Despite the fact that this book proclaims that Peach (the ferret) has a princess complex? Don’t think Plumber (because her name is Peach, and she has a Princess complex… you know… Princess Peach? Pe-- yeah, yeah, the one who isn’t Princess Daisy), think Link… no, the other… yeah, that Link.

(cue the Legend of Zelda music)
Meet Peach, a female ferret who seems to have a Legend of Zelda kind of mindset, and she’s Zelda. In her mind’s eye the pen she and her fellow ferrets live in is a Kingdom, and whenever passing curious customers reach in to maybe buy a ferret, then the kingdom comes under attack by the dreaded “Handra” (despite the fact that all ferrets handled by “Handra” have not actually been bitten by the strange mouths on the end of Handra’s… body… though they seem to think the beast sports five heads and five mouths at the end of each head).

One day Peach is adopted by Amanda, and suddenly she thinks she’s been whisked from her kingdom by the vicious Handra and taken… to Rome? Apparently so because next thing you know she’s Captive Princess Gladiator Peach and she must fight for the amusement of the vicious Handra… though, talk to the Handra, I’m sure Amanda would rather her new ferret did not constantly get into battles to the death with the various inanimate objects in her room, especially with the “law” laid down by mom.

Rule #1 - Amanda must care for Peach.
This is treaded near breaking often as Amanda drops Peach once and goes into a long scary panic attack dreading that she killed Peach. Then Peach goes into a dreaded mood after she harms her close companion (the stuffed Cactaur from FFX slash X-2 creature), and Amanda is a little late in cleaning Peach’s box.

Rule #2 - Peach cannot bite.
Let’s see… between her “bouts” as a Handra fighting gladiator (ARE YOU NOT AMUSED, RUSSEL CROWE!! IT’S A FEMALE FERRET THAT THINKS SHE’S A GLADIATOR PRINCESS!! ARE YOU NOT AMUSED!!) and her rage induced bouts of Princess rage… this rule is broken so quickly and often that you can’t believe it.

Will Amanda ever earn Peach’s trust and, dare we hope, compassion and love?
Only by reading this book (bite proof gloves not included) will you know.
Oh, there’s a brief (and I do mean brief) Ferret booster section (complete with about 2 pages of good info and something about the dreaded beast Handra), and a preview of Dark Moon Diary (on my list of reviews).

I would have liked to have given Peach Fuzz a solid high score, really, but there are a few things here that keep the title from achieving perfection.

I think the greatest flaw in the title is that we don’t really get to know the secondary characters all that well. Yes, there’s the mom of course, but we see her mostly as the naggy professional businesswoman mom who seems to spend most of her title time either nagging about Peach’s expenses, or bitching out the vet for some reason (Peach is sleeping so deep she seems to be dead, Peach is biting, etc). Some non confrontational time where we get to know the mom as the mom and not the bringing of conflict or conflict resolution in a plot would have been nice.

Then there’s Amanda’s pals (all two of them) who we only know shortly through their appearances. More indepth exposure to the characters as something other than conflict bringers to the story would have been nice (even nicer if they have pets that interact with Peach and brings in cast into Peach’s world that isn’t inanimate objects that she seems to think are either gladiatorial enemies or servants).

These are simple requests you can learn just by watching a DVD of Hamtaro for crying out loud, a strong secondary cast to go along with the main cast (compliment the cast, interact with the cast, etc), and would go a long way to making this perfect.

Still, if you like cute (yet sometimes a wee bit traumatic with the physical violence and the near shock of thinking Peach is doing more than just sleeping) title then this is for you.
If, however, you can’t watch Old Yeller, play Pikman, or watch cable TV coverage of the 2008 Presidential Campaign without knowing they’re going to one day receive the confirmation that good old Religious Wrong man Old Huckabee’s released his notice of being put out to pasture as a candidate (hooray!) then this title may be abit much for you.

If you don’t mind the incidents I mentioned you might find a good story here.
Solidly written, nicely drawn, and with a cast that needs to be either improved (or given more time than as just plot instigators or resolvers) there is greatness in this read. It’s not perfect, but it is good reading.

4 gladiatorial ferret battles to the nip (bite) out of 5

Peach Fuzz Recommended

Peach Fuzz Reviews

Peach Fuzz Volume 1