In The Sounds And Seas Volume 1
Damn you Xeric Foundation! I heard from Marnie at SPACE this year (2013, o comics readers of the future!) that the grant was no longer being given out to comics artists which, and this is putting it mildly, sucks. Really and truly. Sure, they gave it out for 20 years, launching dozens if not hundreds of careers that probably wouldn’t have happened without their help, and they have made the comics world a better place in countless ways… but couldn’t they have just kept going forever? Or better yet: hey you multi-millionaires out there! I know at least a few of you read comics, don’t try to hide it. Why not start up another grant for such things? It wouldn’t take much convincing to get me to quit my job to oversee such a thing, and I’d be willing to do it for the slightly above poverty level wages that I get now! Do it, make the world a better place for art and artists! Oh right, there’s a comic that I should be talking about. The whole Xeric rant did have another point, because Marnie won it for this book and she still has two planned volumes of this series left, so here’s hoping that somebody with some money realizes good work when they see it. Astonishing work really; no sense in selling this short. This is the story of the world and its creation. Sort of. Eh, I can already see that my trying to describe this is not going to go well. The first sections show three people in a circle before and during the act of creation. This is a silent book and a quick read so I’ll keep this all as vague as possible to avoid spoilers. The second part shows people living in this creation and two people in particular. One searches through a series of doorways for three things that he needs while the other oversees and examines what’s in his workshop. I expect the whole thing to come together once the entire book is finished, and it’s always a bit maddening to comment on what is essentially 1/3 of a book, as I’m bound to only have the slightest idea of what I’m talking about. One thing I can tell you is that the art in this book is ridiculously good; her attention to detail puts the word “painstaking” to shame. If she does have a full time job other than comics I have no idea how she does it, unless she’s been working on this for the last ten years. Individual leaves, pieces of tree bark, the various animals she shows in clusters, it’s all impressive as hell. Don’t forget that name, because if it has to come down to a Kickstarter style fundraising effort in a year or so to get the second volume out I will be pestering you all mightily until the goal is met. $12.95
