Returning home last night after grocery shopping...  I turned on our TV set while bringing up the bags of groceries from my car.

All three major cable news channels were then showing the end of the memorial service for Senator Edward M Kennedy.

I saw a bit of Vice President Joe Biden's speech as I brought up the cold items for Tina to put away, (we live in a three story townhouse).

I then noted on a return trip upstairs with the final bags that Caroline Kennedy was then talking.  I stopped to listen to listen to her.

Recently I had read BlueWater Comics' Female Force: Caroline Kennedy #1 issue, but had not yet reviewed it here in mhy Blog.

I felt at that time last night that after listening to Caroline and then hearing the ending song at the service, 'When Irish Eyes Are Smiling', that reviewing the issue here this morning would be a timely thing to do...

Caroline was born five years after myself, so the first real rememberance of Caroline were the photos of her and her family at the White House.  Then of course Caroline attending her father's funeral in 1963 as seen on  black and white TV.

To me, she never really stood out that much publicly early in her life, as she was overshadowed by her mother and her brother in the public spotlight.  I wasn't aware that she wanted to be 'left alone' as stated in her later book "The Right to Privacy".

Plus being mainly on the West Coast most of my life, and with Caroline not wanting the public spotlight for most of her life; I just didn't know that much about her, other than her connection to her famous family.

The writer of this comic book, Neal Bailey, does a good job in telling a brief biography about Caroline.  Even he though knows that it isn't the full and complete story, so there is a full page of source links that the reader can access online to learn more about Caroline.  The links are to online articles, videos, and wikipedia entries.  After all, a writer can only put so much into a regular sized comic book issue!

Ryan Howe captures the flavor of 'Camelot' in the beginning pages of the story.  His art style is more of a 'cartoony' illustrative one IMHO, so the likenesses of the main characters are recognizable but are not pictured in a 'realistic' tone.  Please do not misunderstand what I am saying here... the style does not detract from the illustrated biography, just that it is in a more 'cartoony' format.

Kirsty Swan's coloring fit the somber period of the first page, which showed the funeral procession of Caroline's father.  The rest of the coloring made the art flow when reading the panels in the ongoing pages.

Wilson Ramos Jr. did another fine job lettering this issue.  I always expect that of him, and he doesn't disappoint.

The striking front cover was by Vinnie Tartamella.  Another frameable cover from this artist!

However, I believe that it was the difference in the more 'realistic' illustrative style between the front cover's artist and the interior pages done by another artist that made the interior pages appear to be of a more 'cartoony' nature, but that is my personal opinion.    

As I said at the beginning of this blog post, I didn't know all that much about Caroline Kennedy the individual.  This biography as told in comic book format is a good introduction to her life shown in a sequential art format and easy to read for all ages. 

One final thought before wrapping up this post... My thoughts are with the Kennedy Clan as they lay to rest their family member, Edward M Kennedy today...

Notes:  This issue's cover price was $3.99, well worth the price for this stand alone issue #1 in the series of Female Force comics.  

For more info on the Female Force series with previous and upcoming issues, please see the Bluewater Comics web site at:  http://www.bluewaterprod.com/