Hello and welcome to The Great BCB Reread!
Iām reading every single page of Bittersweet Candy Bowl from Volume 2 onwards... again! And seeing how it holds up. Iāve been a fan of the comic for as long as I can remember.
Starting Over
Starting Over begins with Jessica and Rachel being complete strangers to the rest of Daisyās friends, which gives an easy way to introduce the rest of the cast to us.
A lot happens on this page. They establish 1. That Rachel and Jess have beef with Tess. 2. That Tess is now dating Paulo. 3. That Rachel thinks Paulo is attractive.
A lot of information about these characters comes in very quickly and is reinforced over the next 3 volumes of comic. Itās a good start.
Daisy/Abbey in the very early stages. Sheās clearly a lovestruck teen who canāt help thinking about her childhood crush. That doesnāt mean she doesnāt care for Abbey but, the poor girl is clearly torn. The power of foresight lets me tell you this is only the beginning of her troubles...
Daisy doesnāt even know the half of it
Rachel goes on to say Paulo wants to bone Mike long before Paulo KNOWS if he does or not. Day. Fucking. One.
Lucyās interance is a clear show of her tough-girl facade. She tries to get Mike to pay attention to her and is instantly brushed off. An outstanding allegory for their relationship.
An early display of Paulo being protective of Lucy. Starting Over is a very good display of SHOWING us character relationships. It does a little bit of telling, but only enough to make sure you are not entirely lost. The rest of it is things like Pauloās clenched fists, Lucyās dejected gaze. It reminds you what it was like to be a highschooler.
I do, however, think the elaboration on Daisy and Augustusās time together is a little too much telling.
Jessica tells Lucy sheās cool right away... god, I love these two. (As we go on, youāll notice that Jessica has a type.)
Iām a big fan of how the chapter closes itself out. After Lucy is left on her own by Jess and Rachel, she just thinks about everything she DIDNāT tell them because she didnāt want to. The transition to her lying in bed shows that it troubled her for the rest of the school day. It gives her emotional baggage some weight.
Weāve all been where Lucyās been before. Thinking way too hard about someone you donāt think cares for you. Someone you did a lot for.
Itās a beautiful beginning to a very long story.
