Lili Todd is a rad cartoonist. She also happens to be eight years old. With help from her dad, illustrator Mark Todd, Lili has been releasing her own mini-comics for several years, demonstrating a keen knack for designing cute characters and a clever understanding of print layout flaunted in works like Robot Dressup and Change My Face, an interactive exquisite corpse-esque zine. While Lili’s not exactly an artistic wunderkind, you can tell that she cares about her creations and loves sharing them with others. The sheer enterprise of a girl who made personal appearances at both APE and Comic Con is admirable enough, without the added benefit of her comics’ irresistibly endearing Sanrio-esque charm.
One of her latest works, Polley Makes Snowcones: Book #2 seems almost allegorically autobiographical in its ruminations on work and play. The story begins with an optimistic bear waking up and exclaiming, “It’s snow-cones day! Yippy!” before frantically setting up a booth to share her frozen treats with a long line of animal friends. In the middle of her hectic day, Polley notes, “This is work,” but never gives up. At the end of the comic, Polley awakens to announce once again, “It’s snow-cones day!” She’s accepted both the joy and the strain of work and forges onward, extending what we first assume to be a day-long flight of fancy into a lifetime project.
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