REVIEW: Finding Molly: An Adventure in Catsitting

Finding Molly: Adventures in Cat-Sitting is an ongoing webcomic written by Justine Prado, illustrated by Jenn St.-Onge, and published by EMET Comics. I’d also like to make a point to note of both the colorist, Carey Pietsch, and letterer, Joyana McDiarmid, because both roles are integral but also so well done in this comic.

Finding Molly is an ADORABLE little webcomic that I want to hold in my grubby little fangirly hands in a physical copy, and I can only hope someday it comes true. I wish I could just write this line a dozen times and tell you to go view it every day, but I realize I can’t just do that, and I have to tell you what it’s about. SIGH.

Finding Molly is a lovely coming-of-age story about an artist stuck in a horrible rut, done with college but not fully flung into adulthood, doodling little more than her cat and blogging while trying to figure out how to break her block. Her BFF talks her into moving out of her parents’ house and into the big, dazzling city to find a means of self-sufficiency and new muse. Molly jumps on the idea and finds the city rather lonely while everyone else, with their ‘real’ jobs and adult lives, is busy and leaving her out of their plans.

But, Molly eventually finds her groove in the unlikely career of cat-sitting and making snarky comics about her experiences with it. Her friends love it, her family loves it, and all of her clients do too. But day-to-day life is still uneasy, and making sure she can pay rent and keep a social life all at once is a new challenge for Molly. How will it go?

The art of Finding Molly is adorable and beautifully colored, really making the reader identify with and root for Molly. The coloring is appropriate and subtle, with memories in sepia and character hints in faded colors. The writing is true-to-life and flits between hysterical and meaningful while maintaining a lightness to it. I’m immensely impressed with how Justine Prado has turned a relatively unique story into something so universal it feels like it could be talking about anyone (or me, for example, even though I have a dog.) Addressing the universal struggles of artists everywhere leads to a fun comic that all sorts of readers can identify with and find amusing.

Finding Molly can be read here at: http://emetcomics.tumblr.com/post/137571789762/our-new-webcomic-finding-molly-an-adventure-in (updated frequently!) I pray for a day when I can hold a full paper copy in my hands. Maybe we could all start a petition?

Go show Finding Molly by Justine Prado some love, huh?  😀