Thursday, October 2, 2008

Brian Wood & Local

Comic books have changed over the last decade or so bringing a new breed of writer with new ideas to the forefront. Brian Wood is among the best of these new comic book writers out there. His books have ranged from Northlanders an ongoing about Vikings, DMZ another ongoing about a second U.S. Civil War and his recently complete series, Localpublished by Oni Press.

Local is a coming of age book that follows the life of a teen-age girl, Megan, over several years. Each issue of Local featured a different city or part of the country as she travels around briefly settling down before she is forced to move due to the vagaries of her trouble life. The great stories are accented by the incredible detailed art of Ryan Kelly who captures the flavor of each stop in Megan's life and brings a life to the character beyond Wood's scripting. Local is a great read for teens especially girls who might never wander in the medium feeling it is only full of geeky superheroes and nothing else. If you have read Blankets by Craig Thompson and liked it, I guarantee you will love Local.

Local has been published in a great hardbound collection of all 12 issues and includes extra unpublished art. It make a great gift for yourself or for that person in your life that refuses to give the medium a try.

For a video review of Local as well as Gotham Central check out this edition of Fresh Ink from the Attack of the Show website

BTW you should always buy your comics at your Local Comic Book Store. If you live in Seattle it should be Arcane Comics & More in Ballard.

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