In a vague time and place, little Addidas suffers fainting spells and works with her father as a chimney sweep, donning a helmet and crawling into the spaces too small for an adult to reach. Drawn as an adorable little waifish raggamuffin, I was instantly drawn into her giant eyes and found myself with sympathetic feelings and a strong protective urge toward her.

In another storyline track, a monster labors away in a weird and hellish underground boiler room. These sequences are ugly and wordless and held absolutely no interest for me.

Eventually, the two storylines cross and manage to cancel each other out entirely, leaving me in an emotional limbo. I like Addidas, but I don't care what happens next to the monster.

I'd almost keep reading the story for the art, but I fear the writing would probably start to annoy me. ( )