Lucy & Andy Neanderthal Review: Fun And Educational

Woolly mammoths, bossy teenagers, baby brothers, and wandering humans. The Stone Age is wilder and wackier than anyone thought for two neanderthal kids!

Lucy & Andy Neanderthal

Writer & Artist: Jeffrey Brown

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Superheroes and manga still dominate the graphic novel sections in comic shops. Outside of that arena, however, is the wide world of young adult (or “YA”) graphic novels. They sell by the box load in bookstores, toy shops, and mainstream retailers online and off. Major publishers like Penguin Random House have specifically set up imprints to offer such books to kids for this purpose. To this end comes this latest work by Jeffrey Brown via their “Crown” imprint.

Brown is best known for Star Wars related work like Darth Vader & Son and Jedi Academy. He’s since sought to branch out into creator owned territory like this. Readers got the first peak at Lucy & Andy Neanderthal in the anthology Comics Squad #2: Lunch from January. That strip isn’t reprinted here. What is presented is a 224-page story laying out the premise and the world of the series being offered. Brown offers both an engaging story as well as simple anthropology lessons.

Meet Lucy and Andy! And the rest, too!

Lucy and Andy Neanderthal are two kids living with their parents and their friends in a cave 40,000 years ago. Lucy is the eldest of Luba and Charles’ three kids, with Andy being the middle child. Andy is always eager to prove himself as a proper caveman, while the smarter and more creative Lucy usually has to look after him. Lazy teenagers Phil and Margaret frequently boss them around, with the elderly Daryl and baby brother Danny rounding out the clan.

Andy is eager to join Phil and the adults on a mammoth hunt. This is both to prove himself as a man in general as well as to Margaret (whom he crushes on). His first attempt to join in sees the kids meet a sabretooth tiger kitten. Lucy helps Andy sneak out of the cave to watch the real hunt, only to see it nauseate him. Throughout it all, Lucy often proves her cleverness and artistic side by making tools, cave paintings, and clothes. Yet the Neanderthals are not alone in the forest!

In the present, archaeologists Eric and Pam tag in every now and then to give handy facts. Chapter breaks mark their presence. It’s never obtrusive and in fact helps the reader tell where Brown chose to embellish with his Neanderthal narrative. Readers will not only get an entertaining story, but learn more about neanderthals than they may ever thought.

Jeffrey Brown can draw more than Jedi!

Jeffrey Brown’s art is simple and charming throughout. His line work is strong and his memorable characters are rendered among lush backgrounds. A series of drawn together vignettes move the story along. Eventually the neanderthals meet their evolutionary superiors (humans) with a subtle sense of foreboding intruding on their interactions. Lucy and Andy have great banter with each other as well as Phil and Margaret.

This is an utterly delightful graphic novel. The artwork is charming and the characters are easy to relate to regardless of their setting. Siblings, teenagers, and little babies seem to have universal dynamics with each other. Brown’s work is collected in a handsome hardcover for $12.99, which goes on sale on August 30. The young and the young at heart will love this trip back through time with two quirky neanderthal kids.