FLOWER GIRLS
GUMROAD
STORY: Francesca Lyn
ART/DESIGN: Sally Cantirino
24pp., Color/2-color; $3.00 U.S. (2018)
Flower Girls is a 16-page digital comic book written by Francesca Lyn and drawn by Sally Cantirino. The story examines the life of a former “magical girl” who is now an adult. The “magical girl” is a sub-genre of manga (Japanese comics) about girls who have magical powers.
Flower Girls introduces Rose, who was the leader of a magical girl group. Rose was extraordinary, and at one point she was so popular that merchandisers sold a million “Rose” dolls. Now, Rose lives in an below-average apartment with her cousin, Jay. After Jay disappears, Rose is forced to confront how her past shaped her present and what her life will be going forward.
THE LOWDOWN: Flower Girls will get a high grade from this review, which it might not get under other circumstances. It is not highly polished like a comic book from a big publisher, but what it lacks in polish, it makes up for in heart, soul, and artistic ambition.
This digital comic book is filled with a sense of love and magic. The love is in the way Francesca Lyn tells this story, exploring and searching for a way to convey Rose's own searching and yearning. There is love in everything that Sally Cantirino does to create the graphics for this comic – from the illustrations and lettering to the toning and the two-color and color shifts. Cantirino makes this feel like a handmade comic book coming into existence before our very eyes.
Flower Girls is also infused with a sense of wonder and with magic. Sometimes, storytelling about magic feels bereft of the very thing it seeks to define or convey. Sometimes, the magic seems mechanical, as through the science of computer-generated effects. This is not the case with Lyn and Cantirino's comic. Flower Girls, a tale of lost magic, is like a book of magic with its sense of mystery and its dream-like and mystical moments and flourishes.
I would like to see more Flower Girls or, at least, more work from Lyn and Cantirino as a creative team. At $3, Flower Girls is a bargain for fans of fantasy comic books.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of magical girl manga will want to read Flower Girls.
A
★★★★ out of 4 stars
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
Flower Girls can still be purchased as digital comic at Gumroad or at https://gumroad.com/l/lZJGn
http://www.francescalyn.com/
https://x.com/francescalyn
https://srcantirino.carbonmade.com/
https://sallycantirino.com/
The text is copyright © 2026 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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