My Pet Bee by Martin Blaney, is a fun little comic. Coming in at 16 pages, and told with such great visuals and a cute little story, it's a nice package. It tells the tale of a boy and, not surprisingly, his pet bee, and the times they had together when the boy was younger.

It's a very simple tale, full of innocent little jokes. The bee is called "Bum", for instance. When the main character of the boy tells you on the very first page, "it was a simpler more innocent time". That's exactly what this comic strives for and represents. It's written just about right, with a few throw away one-liners dotted around, the ending simply being that. It's hard however to categorise the comic as something. It would easily appeal to children, but the static pace to the storytelling with 6 panels per page feels a little forced and slow, and just not dynamic enough. For adults, it works as a fun little story that doesn't push the boundaries but feels happy and comfortable with what it is, and that's perfect for me. It's a charmingly written story, but in the end boils down to a simple joke.

Martin's art suits the story to a tee. It's child-like in its appeal, but not off putting for any audience, simple enough to feel at home with The Beano. The use of colours, with black and white panels for the past but the orange of the bee and other orange colours being shown is used to a nice effect, showing the colour in the boy's life with his bee. I will say that there isn't too much variation, with the six panel grid and the fact it's mostly talking heads with the character of the boy, telling the story in an American Splendor kind of way.

My Pet Bee is a fun comic. For £1.50 it's about the standard amount for a UK small press title, and with colour pages it's about the right price for what it is. While it may just be building to a one liner joke at the end, I had fun reading it, and it appeals to a wide audience, it just lacks a real substance for a standalone story of hat length. Take a look at the sample images, and if you have £1.50 spare, it really wouldn't be a bad idea to give this a go.