'Jeremy Vol. 1: Paradise Island' by Jef Nys is an English translation of the Flemish comic Jommeke. The comic was first published in the 1950s, so the title has either a dated or charming feel depending on how you feel.

Jeremy's friend Frankie has won a contest, thanks to Jeremy answering all the questions for him. The prize is an around the world cruise and Frankie can take 4 friends along. Of course, one is his pet dog, which they dress up like a girl. On the ship, the kids run into a nemesis who strands them on a desert island, but the kids end up making the best of things with their new friends, a group of chimpanzees willing to do labor and a chorus of parrots who sing to them every night.

The art and story remind me of a lot of the kids comics I grew up reading, like Donald Duck and Little Lulu. The art style is completely charming. The story has elements that feel a little outdated, but I expect that from something that is 60+ years old. It would be a fun read for younger readers with some discussion about why it's not okay for such a thing as girl's work and boy's work.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

This is proof that back in the old days there was a blonde kid with hair even more ridiculous than Tintin's, whose dog was even more disposable than Milou, whose twin friends were even more daft than Thomson and Thompson, and whose adventures actually ran to about ten times the output of Herge's. This is billed as volume one for the English reader, but was the twelfth (of literally hundreds) for the original Belgian audience. And… it's very meh. Annoying friend gets all the answers to win the gang a round-the-world cruise, which results in them being stranded on an isolated island, whereupon they wear the same clothes day in day out for six months, invoke God too often, and that's about it. It looks so close to Tintin it could be done for plagiarism, but it has none of the narrative drive and spirit. A very poor facsimile.