The Natural World 4
Why aren’t there more serialized stories in the small press comics world? Oh, I don’t mean the people who write for one of the “big” publishers, but among the mini comics folks it seems to be exceedingly rare, and that’s a shame. Damien says at the end of this issue that he thought he would be about ready to wrap up the story at this point, but that it “has already strayed a few times from its anticipated course.” Good! Let it stray, let it expand, and let it be whatever story it’s supposed to end up being. If I had a large chunk of disposable income I’d ask my favorite dozen comic creators to come up with ongoing series and give them money to put them out instead of focusing on single, unconnected issues. What set me off on this subject? Um, it’s Wednesday? Who knows. So how about this issue? Well, if it really was only a three or four issue series, it would have arguably been a waste of time, as what we get is Shannon (the crazy guy living in the woods) and Walter (the only slightly less crazy guy with the dog) chatting in the forest. In a shorter series, this might have been a bad idea. In a series that is probably going to go 10 issues, it’s perfect. We’ve seen both of these guys plenty but haven’t had much of a chance to get into their motivations or what they’re all about for any length of time. Here that’s ALL we get, and it’ll almost certainly pay off big in the long run. So what did they talk about for an entire issue? Screw that, buy it and see for yourself. If you’re not already reading this series you certainly should be, so why should I give anything away? OK, a taste: that carved bird pops up again, we learn that the dog doesn’t like Shannon very much, and much fun is had with Walter’s way of talking. $4
