Toast.x2

  Paperxi (paper 11) is an OLD web comic created by Dan Kim (@clone.manga on Twitter) This 2003-2005 webcomic is a completed series and a nightmare to interpret, though well worth any speculation. Premise: 14-year-old Maya survives a terrible train accident only to find herself in a strange world where people, places, and souls are made of paper. Now, hunted and alone, she has 11 days to find the bodies, reconstruct the accident, and return home. This blew my mind a bit.. it is basically impossible to talk about.. this was a beast unto itself.. I do not know that the premise is a fair description. Maya survives, but nowhere in the plot is there any indication that ‘souls are made of paper’ or that Maya needs to find bodies.. does she find some? Absolutely, but i would be hardpressed to say it was on purpose. The comic is primarily in black and white, with some red added in later frames. The contrast is so harsh that on some pages, you question what you are even looking at...

  Tara O’Conner via Oni Press - ‘The Altered History of Willow Sparks’ Pretty good graphic novel, clocking at 154 artful pages. Doubtful it will rank in your best of all time list, but you won’t regret reading it either. Willow Sparks picks up the well worn concept of rewriting history. Willy, as her friends call her, finds a secret room in the public library where she works. Finding a book with her name on the spine, she realizes that editing the book edits reality. Willy then uses the book to do exactly that, losing friends and succumbing to social pressures in the process. Stand out artistic concept here is the revenge of the book, making skin take on black inky veins and permanent discoloration when abused. Big props to the author for including draft art, showing the evolution of her designs. Also, for her authoring soundtrack and a hilarious count of coffee consumption.

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys - graphic novel collection of six singles, The Big Lie follows the trend of taking wholesome juvenile characters and drag them into a darker shadow. We saw this with archie and others, all well done. I believe that #anthonydelcoln, #wertherdelledera , and Dynamite Comics have produced another great schism in the trend. The Big Lie tracks the Hardy Boys as they are interrogated and blamed for the murder of their father. Shortly after, we see Drew has suggested they purposeful enter the limelight in an attempt to flush out evidence. The comic continues down the path as the trio break into a police dept to steal evidence, join forces with drug dealers, and influence scenarios leading to another murder. Drew and the Hardys are officially in legal gray space, operating under the guise that they are beyond the law until the law can be trusted. The art was amazing, seeming to focus a bit more detail on Nancy while the Boys were left typically in a grimier and...