Tuesday Felicia Day’s new graphic novel, “The Lost Daughter Of Sparta,” hit stores and she kicked off her book tour at An Unlikely Story in Plainville, MA. An Unlikely Story was a great choice because it’s a quaint little bookshop in the middle of nowhere and who doesn’t love supporting indie businesses. Felicia was in discussion with fellow author Jenny L. Howe, who was the perfect moderator. Jenny fan-girled just enough and her questions were anything but stale. Did you know cats have barbed penises and ducks are like corkscrews? Me either, but some things can never be forgotten. The vibe of the evening was definitely fun and celebratory…with a hint of disturbing.
The discussion ran just over an hour. Felicia spoke about the novel being born out of the pandemic, taking over six years to complete. Going through over a hundred artist before discovering Rowan MacColl. Her main inspiration is anger and wanting to make a change. Of course, Felicia is known for her nerd-dom, so there was lots of talk about gaming and researching mythology. She calls herself out when she’s making things awkward, is down to earth and so funny. After the discussion, they called us up by rows to get our books personalized (they were pre-signed) and get a pic. It was short and sweet but Felicia told me I smelled good. Aww shucks! Good thing I showered but I’ve been to enough signings to know some folks don’t…ever.
“The Lost Daughter Of Sparta” is a YA graphic novel based on Greek mythology with a powerful message of self-love. If you don’t know mythology, Felicia gives back story when needed. She discovered her main character, Philonoe, when research showed Philonoe mentioned but her story untold, giving Felicia artistic freedom to do so (reminding me of the fictional world Bob The Drag Queen created in “Harriet Tubman: Live In Concert”). Philonoe’s heroic journey is one of adventure and self-discovery with twists along the way and Rowan MacColl’s artistry gives the novel an old-school museum feel using only black and red ink on white. In my gay opinion, “The Lost Daughter Of Sparta” might be geared towards teens but is entertaining for adults, especially fans of graphic novels with a love of mythology.
