The Loud House Special: Love Out Loud by The Loud House Creative Team

It’s always a delight to catch up with the Loud House comics, even if I do have to re-read the cast of characters intro each time to make sure I know who’s who before plunging in!

This volume is dedicated to love in all its forms, whether it be romantic, familial, platonic or platonic wanting to be more. From Lucy feeling sad at not getting a card from her sister Leni, to Luna and her girlfriend writing shmoopy songs together, to Lalo trying to make a new friend at the dog park, this was a wonderfully broad and inclusive look at the way love improves our lives, with more than a dose of The Loud House’s trademark humor. The stories are all short sketches but pack a lot in, not only of the Loud family’s tales, but also scenes from the lives of the Casagrandes, Changs and McBrides.

The art is in keeping with the cartoon shows and, as always, it sometimes takes me a minute to differentiate between all the many blondes. I think I’m finally getting familiar enough to figure out the rest of who’s who without needing to think too hard or head back to the introduction to decode them tho! And that isn’t the fault of the art at all: there are just so many characters here, as there would be in real life, which adds to the fun realism of the series.

Overall, this was a very sweet, love-and-romance focused entry into the Loud House graphic novel canon. It’s a quick, entertaining read, and a perfect gateway book for kids perhaps already familiar with the cartoon to get into reading.

The Loud House Special: Love Out Loud by The Loud House Creative Team was published December 7 2021 by Papercutz and is available from all good booksellers, including