Duffy and the Bullies   Jeff Szusterman  Ant Sang

 

Duffy and the Bullies                     
Jeff Szusterman, 
Illustrator: Ant Sang
Oratia (2024)
Picture book, 
Illustrated story, Graphic novel
Paperback, 88 pages
ISBN: 978 2 99 004256 0
 

This graphic novel, written by Jeff Szusterman and illustrated in colour by Ant Sang, was developed from an original play for schools, ‘Duffy and the Cloak Bay Bully’ by Lauren Jackson. The central character is Duffy (a popular New Zealand mascot for reading) who enjoys books and rugby.

Readers will be intrigued to find that Duffy sometimes addresses them directly, spotting that they have changed pages or commenting on events in the story. He also reads a book (The Hallowe’en Hassler by I.C. Spooks about ghostly bullying) at Halloween) and extracts from it appear among the illustrations.

Jeff Szusterman’s story is, of course, told entirely in speech balloons, so he has made good use of young people’s slang, idioms and abbreviations.  

Duffy discovers that Marama is being bullied. A girl is tripping her, calling her names and stealing her lunch. Duffy interrupts his reading to ask about what to do, so advice about bullying is offered by some of the characters.

Duffy’s Dad rejects the code of silence, ‘It’s not narking when you tell someone who cares about you.’ Duffy’s mother adds a rider, ‘But Marama is going to have to be the one to talk about it, eh?’

At school, Duffy sees that Marama is being teased with an embarrassing phone video clip and bullied during their lunchtime touch rugby game. He persuades Coach Mike to include Marama in their 10-a-side social match where her kicking skills bring victory.

Duffy also tries a little book therapy.  Marama, aided by ideas from the book, stands up to Ashlee.  Ironically, when Marama lends the book to Ashlee, it leads to an epiphany for her. Ashlee is enjoying the horror tale when she realises, ‘OMG! I’m the Paul in this story. I’m the bully!’

Another thread in the story involves Ashlee’s cousin, H.G., who is being shamed by his father into using his size and rough tactics in rugby games.  The concluding section of the book is a rugby final, where various forms of bullying are identified and dealt with – among parents on the sidelines as well as players on the field.

Ant Sang’s colour illustrations are masterly. He manages to make every one of his large cast of characters instantly identifiable. Even his picture of a skeleton is appealing. A skilled comic illustrator, Ant Sang also uses close-ups and a range of perspectives to keep his pages visually exciting and dramatic. The most impressive page shows two rugby teams performing their haka.

The result is a slightly didactic but thoroughly enjoyable comic book, which will also be a good conversation starter.

 

Trevor Agnew 

10 July 2024  [Review 3678]