Comic Book Review: Tiffany’s Griffon by Magnolia Porter Siddell and Maddi Gonzalez
Orion the messenger fairy has had many adventures with the Griffon Riders of Crystalfall, particularly young heroine Lyn Sparrowheart and her faithful steed Swiftclaw. But then came the Witch Elel, whose magic twisted the land and made her seemingly unstoppable. She has even captured Lyn and Swiftclaw! Only the Chosen One described in the Book of Prophecy has a chance of putting things right. So Orion is taking the last griffon egg through a magical portal to a place called Earth to look for the Chosen One.
When Orion arrives in the “park”, there is indeed a girl there who seems oddly familiar with the world of Crystalfall, even knowing Orion’s name. But she also babbles nonsense about “books” and “online.” Can she truly be the Chosen One, Tiffany Rodriguez? The girl seems taken aback for a moment before affirming that she is, indeed, Tiffany Rodriguez the Chosen One. Orion’s time is limited, so he entrusts the egg to her.
What Orion does not know is that there were two girls in the park that day. The one he spoke to is Marnie Plummer, a short, pudgy, unathletic, bespectacled girl whose primary joy in life is being a fan of the Griffon Riders series of fantasy novels. She can recite chapter and verse, and has long wished for a chance to see Crystalfall for real. With no in-person friends, being the Chosen One is everything she’s dreamed of.
Tiffany Rodriguez, on the other hand, is a pretty, popular girl who seems to have everything going for her already. She comes off as friendly, but Marnie’s been burned before by one of the “cool kids” pretending to be a friend only to use it to taunt her later. Plus, Tiffany’s never even read the Griffon Riders series! She’s not qualified to be the Chosen One, and Marnie is. So Marnie lied.
But it’s not going to be that easy for Marnie. Tiffany’s attention has been drawn to Marnie, and she genuinely is friendly, so when Marnie misses a day of school, Tiffany drops by the house. Marnie’s been trying to get the egg to hatch, but Tiffany’s Chosen One status is needed to actually trigger it. Nero the griffon is born with the power of selective invisibility (a big help in avoiding people finding out about him) and Marnie leverages Tiffany’s presence to try to get Nero to be her griffon without letting the other girl know the truth about the Chosen One.
Tiffany’s usual crowd is shallow and kind of mean, so their partially shared secret means that she becomes much closer friends with Marnie. It turns out that her mother died some time ago, and her father has a heart condition that often sends him to the hospital. And while she doesn’t read for fun, Tiffany is a fan of baseball, and is interested in Marnie’s fanfiction and fanart skills. Marnie, it turns out, has a lot more going for her than she’s aware of or others see.
But there’s still that initial lie festering at the heart of their relationship, and eventually the Witch Elel must be confronted. Can a false Chosen One succeed?
There’s a lot of themes packed into one children’s graphic novel. Friendship, fandom, jealousy, the importance of truth, the importance of imagination vs. the importance of getting out in the real world sometimes, even how people with different interests can still be valuable to each other.
Good: Nice art, some nifty effects. Both our protagonists get moments to shine and show off their skills in different ways. The mystery of just why Tiffany of all people is the Chosen One is well-foreshadowed for younger readers. Elel is scary. The adults are shown to be caring if sometimes clueless because their children are keeping secrets.
Less good: The characterization of the “popular kids” is a bit shallow. But hey, they’re maximum twelve years old, maybe they’ll grow out of it.
Odd: Marnie has two younger brothers who look up to her. But we never see or hear from them after the early scene where they’re established to exist, even in scenes at Marnie’s house or her interacting with her parents. Also, the backstory timeline does not make sense. It’s not technically impossible, I suppose, but defies everything I know about the publishing industry.
Content note: Children in peril, cruelty to animals. Conservative parents may quibble at a hint of sexuality.
Obviously, the target audience is late elementary school/early middle school girls, but boys should be able to enjoy this as well, and older readers will be able to dive deeper into the themes. Recommended for fantasy fans.
