You have never read any book, much less a graphic novel, like Deeply Dave. It is a graphic novel, but it operates in such a unique fashion that it’s like comparing an apple to an orange. The two have one thing in common, but they are so utterly different that it does one of them a major disservice to group them close to one another. Deeply Dave is a graphic novel about a boy whose mother goes missing. She was in a spaceship, but it crashed in the bottom of the sea, and now Dave is going out there to rescue her. That’s the very basic plot, but you can throw out any ideas or preconceived notions as to how you think the story will evolve. The plot changes every five pages, with new characters, powers, locations, or secrets being disclosed that alter how others react to the Big Doom, and that is before the book’s format is taken in account.
Dave’s mother is an astronaut whose ship has crashed and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. As Deeply Dave opens, he’s just descended to a deep level when he’s approached by a giant, skeletal-looking monster who warns him against going down there. This monster says that it can show Dave the wonders of the deep, if it’s able to touch his eyeballs. This freaks Dave out, and when a nearby fish screams “Beware,” it literally pushes him back to where he falls into an even deeper and darker abyss.
The giant looks down from its perch and reminds Dave that things in the deep are not as they seem. From here he encounters an alien, a shark with legs, a small crustacean who becomes his friend, and an octopus that uses human bones to move around. The crustacean can get very muscular and can quadruple in size. They meet an alien, cook spicy pancakes, species turn into different species and the Big Doom really is as dangerous as they warn Dave.
Again the plot in Deeply Dave is byzantine and appears to change every couple of pages. Those people less willing to accept change may even struggle to see the plot of Deeply Dave. Its plot is one of the most creative, fun and freewheeling stories that we’ve read in a graphic novel in years. At the core, the story of a young boy looking for his lost mother is very simple. The fun and enjoyment that (young) readers will have is in swimming with the details that Michael Grover has woven into the underwater insanity.
The presentation in Deeply Dave goes a long way in complementing the story. Most of the pages have a glossy black background, with the story’s panels having a white border. The content in those boxes are light or dark blue. Occasionally, there are red elements like Amos (the crustacean), Walter (the octopus) or when there’s conflict with the Big Doom. When those shades of red are used it exacerbates the tension, anger or mystery that’s happening in the story. It can also highlight the brevity or funny happenings, like when Amos is digging a tunnel for the trio to escape through. The art also uses subtle effects to outline certain elements or emotions with two or three colors in situations like that to imply a twisted or psychological bent.
There’s an especially surreal chapter in Deeply Dave where Dave goes down the metaphorical rabbit hole. He has a conversation with an alien where his surroundings might be a dream, or could really be happening. His mother is with him, but she’s momentarily got robot eyes that make her possessed, if she’s really there at all. When the dreamlike segments ends, readers might be momentarily confused, I was. I went back and re-read the two chapters, understood the plot and had a great appreciation for the less-is-more style that breathes in this graphic novel. In some cases, the character lines are hazily drawn and outlined in blue or red, giving it that effect that the Tik Tok logo has. Its front cover has aspects of this trickery too.
What if Spy Vs. Spy had some spoken words and a much longer narrative? No, that’s not an accurate comparison. Deeply Dave is unlike any other graphic novel you’ve read; now, let’s talk about its presentation, which adds to the tone and emotional depth.
One doesn’t expect emotional depth when they read a graphic novel. Deeply Dave opens vertically, with each new page being pulled up, instead of right to left. That effect allows the characters to go down, through the gutter and into the next page. If a character is going deeper underwater, then their water line can be one, unbroken like to the character at the bottom of the second page. It could allude to the black hole that teases the next chapter as this one is ending. The deep crevice is perceived to be even deeper as your eyes scan down the page, instead of across it.
This process also slows down how quickly you consume the book. Realistically, there aren’t many words in Deeply Dave. It’s not a wordless graphic novel, but there are multiple pages where there are more onomatopoeias than words. One might be tempted to scan quickly through the illustrations, especially if you’re a younger reader. However, the pacing, variety of illustrations, combined with the book’s presentation make if more of a story that you want to savor, even though you could zip through it.
Younger readers might be wondering what this strange sensation is. It’s the joy of the love of reading. You’re smiling as you’re reading. You want to re-read or look at illustrations that you just saw. Your friends aren’t reading this book, but you don’t care. Deeply Dave might be like that too. It’s so unlike other books that mass elementary audiences might not get it. It doesn’t open like others. The plot is more esoteric. I don’t like it.
As a teacher, it’s frustrating when kids shut down things because they don’t initially understand something. Welcome to life. If you’re not experience something new, then you’re just watching the same episode of Cocomelon you did when you discovered something entertaining. Don’t shut down or close the door on it. Just crack the door a little bit; look at this new thing and realize it’s not scary simply because it takes the path less traveled. When you do, you’ll realize that Deeply Dave is one of those graphic novels that you’ll look at in 30 years and remember reading it over and over as a kid.
Deeply Dave is by Michael Grover and available on Henry Holt and Company, an imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group.
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