"Shed," is a graphic novel currently being Kickstarted by my friends over at Blue Fox Comics. Written by Richard Fairgray and Lucy Campagnolo with Fairgray as the artist too, it is one of the best original graphic novels I have read this year. A mixture of a slice-of-life yarn in a small town but with a hefty dose of magical realism, "Shed," is about a 20-something named Amber who moves to her Father's hometown to take over his shop after his sudden passing (he literally fell in a hole and died).
Amber gets embroiled in the drama between a woman named Fran and a group of women who like to think they run the town. All the while, the legend of a sea monster used to attract tourists looms large as a metaphor for whether it is more of an attraction or a warning about being stuck someplace with nowhere to go.
The words and art work together in beautiful unison. Whether it is a moment in the shop showing the sheer amount of stuff, the intricately wrinkled faces of the elderly women in town, or a surreal moment where water seems to flood into an intense conversation as if drowning both participants in their rage (it's a clever metaphor), it all is fantastic.
I really enjoyed, "Shed," and how it makes a variety of small-town squabbles carry a bunch of emotional weight and provides little twists and turns to the story that gives everything a slightly fantastical sensation when out-of-the-ordinary events occur. It's a fantastic book and one I'd recommend Kickstarting now while the campaign is ongoing or if you're reading this post after the book is published you can always buy it from Blue Fox Comics directly or request for your favorite comic shop/bookstore to order it. Anyway, as is obvious from my glowing review, I'd rate, "Shed," as being...
5 out of 5 stars.
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