Waaaaaaay back in early 2003 I had picked up the latest issue of THE COMICS JOURNAL because it featured an interview with legendary artist John Romita Sr., but found a bunch of other great things in it as well!
Among the pages was a segment called “On The Boards” which featured a preview of an upcoming graphic novel called “Sweaterweather” by an artist named Sara Varon, and WOW, this really GRABBED my attention with its charming cover and winsome art!!
Drawn in this very innocent style and featuring quirky animals in various scenarios immediately reminded me of children storybooks like Richard Scarry’s Busy World books and the like- I was fascinated and was eager to see more!
The Comics Journal listed the book’s release date as June of that year, and I made a mental note in my head to look out for it…Sadly by June I had not seen anything about it in the local comic story, and over time it completely slipped my mind... Fast forward a good 11 years later, and just this past week I was looking for that Comics Journal to scan some John Romita sketches to post in a facebook group, and when I came across the Sweaterweather article again, it charmed me all over and I knew that THIS TIME, I had to get my hands on it one way or another!!
Going online, it seems that Sara Varon had become quite successful since her Sweaterweather debut- not only did she get a Harvey Award for Sweaterweather, but she boasted a long list of critically acclaimed books including “Robot Dreams” which had gone on to become an animated movie! Whoa!
Looking to see where I could grab a copy of Sweaterweather for myself I saw that since its initial release, it had been re-released with more stories to it, and called “Sweaterweather and Other Short Stories”!
That sounded great, however it had a new cover and I really, really wanted that original illustration that first piqued my interest (with its car-driving animals and walking snowmen about town), and despite the great deal of the new version, in the end I opted to find a dealer who could get me a copy with the original cover.
WELL, I just got it the other day and, sure enough, it was as charming and sweet as could be and really gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling! From stories about pie-eating champion Raccoons to simple tales of going to the market to make soup for dinner, the pure innocence of these stories just took me back and made me feel like a kid again!
And that wasn't all- remember the Richard Scarry vibe I got from the initial article? well, Sara's book had lots of things those old Scarry books did, too, with activities like cut-out postcards, paper dolls to play with, and fun lessons on things like beekeeping! SO wonderfully sweet and CHARMING!!!
I can't believe I missed this during its initial release date! NOW, it’s time to make up for that and check out some of Sara Varon’s OTHER books!!!
