Photography is an interesting form of art that many attempt but few are great at. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work as photo processor, having the ability to look at the publics' photographs, personal or not, works of art or amateur everyday time-stamping? On the other hand, have you wondered if photo processors are looking at your photographs, viewing the most intimate details of your life? (Hey, you're the one who took those risqué pictures to be developed at WalMart, right? Jason Little's graphic novel Shutterbug Follies is an action/adventure/mystery story from the viewpoint of a young photo processor. Oh, the possibilites... how scandalous!

Bee is Shutterbug Follies' heroine: a young woman who works in a photo processing shop; she can be seen at the beginning of the book encountering many people of different varieties asking questions about the little shop. There is a cute college girl piping, "You don't actually look at these, do you?" and a snapshot of her wearing a "hot" outfit for her boyfriend. There is also a mousy old woman asking, "Do you use Kodak paper?" and we see a photo she's lovingly captured of her beloved cats. All in a day's work for Bee the photo processor. We cut to a scene of Bee with her friend Lyla, and both are hanging out at the bar playing Go Fish with several photographs Bee has taken from the shop. It is obvious at this point that while Bee enjoys her job (at one point she says, "My pay's not so great but I'm actually enjoying myself. I have at least one moment of genuine weirdness per day.") she doesn't take it too seriously, mostly spending her work-time indulging in the humor of the photographs she processes. However, one day Bee stumbles upon a grotesque picture of a few dead people in a mortuary, a little intrigued at the idea of it. Apparently the mortician also considers himself a photographer. Soon after, a Russian man named Oleg Khatchatourian approaches Bee in the shop claiming to be a photojournalist whose equipment has broken down. He asks Bee if she minds processing his crime scene images, warning her of the blood and guts. As you can assume, Bee looks forward to this exciting addition to her mediocre job, and agrees quickly. Intrigued by the photojournalist's disturbing and stunning images, Bee boldly decides to do some detective work, and after a bit of investigation, follows Khatchatourian to his home. Once there, she witnesses some 'mysterious' actions, and almost gets caught by Oleg himself. Thus begins Bee's jaunt into detective-hood. Armed with her camera and the shop's photo processing machine, she is in for a whirlwind of an adventure.

Jason Little has done a phenomenal job with this graphic novel. The story is innocent enough for young adults to read, while still be bold enough to hold anyone's attention. Bee makes an excellent heroine because she is a real go-getter, ready and searching for adventure. She is cute and female, but independent and risky as well. Bee's character comes across very powerfully in the story and pictures the author presents. In her adventure, Bee befriends a cabbie as well as the Russian photojournalist's son. These characters as well as her best friend Lyla and her boss at the photo processing shop are all portrayed in vivid detail in the pages of this novel. As is also the case with Bee, each character has a graphic personality of their own, and their actions and words make them each very fun to get to know throughout the story. Unlike many of the black and white graphic novels I've chosen to read and review lately, this one is published in vivid detail and color. The pictures are very bright and almost childlike, but the content (murder, dead bodies, etc.) contrasts in a surprisingly unique way. The pictures are bright and fun while the story is a little dark but also humorous. How many different qualities can Jason Little pack into one graphic novel?

The downside is that the story is at times a little hard to follow, as is sometimes the case in graphic novels, surprisingly. Also, though the pictures are "cartoonish," there is a little nudity that may not be appreciated. It's been said that reading helps readers develop imagination, and graphic novels are a great compromise for people who think they don't like to read. As I mention almost every time I review something, I work in a library and my department deals with young adults. In my opinion it is very important to get young adults into the library and to open their eyes to the advantages a good book can bring them. One of the most popular literature formats among young adults in the past years has been graphic novels, and their popularity continues to grow. Graphic novels allow the reader to use their imagination with a little help from the graphics!

Shutterbug Follies is a cute adventure story about a bright young heroine. Bee is inspiring and her story is fun and humorous to read. This is a great book for anyone wanting to explore different kinds of graphic novels.

A Few Other Graphic Novels I've reviewed

Persepolis
Blankets
Borden Tragedy
Electric Girl, Volume 1
Shutterbug Follies
Four Letter Worlds
Strange Day
Cheat
Clumsy
Marvels
Diary of a Teenage Girl

Recommended: Yes