Relics
This comic deals with a theme that a lot of people can relate to: grabbing for a chunk of stability in a world when it seems like everything around you is going to shit. Whit has had a tough year, with (according to her list) her grandpa dying from “a medical mistake in a routine procedure,” her cat of 19 years dying, her parents getting divorced, and her being forced into a career path that she didn’t really want due to the crappy economy. Her solution was to take her boyfriend to the Museum of Natural History in New York, which is where she would often go on field trips as a child. They take their time going through every part of the place, talking about the various things that they’re seeing and what they think might have happened to them. It’s also made clear to them multiple times that the things that we worry about so obsessively don’t seem like that big of a deal when compared to the vastness of the universe, or how the dinosaurs were wiped out in the blink of an eye, or even the many different kinds of minerals found underground. In a way it’s a trip to make sense of the world, but in another way it’s Whit coming to terms with the utter lack of sense in the world. Or that’s my interpretation anyway, your opinions will no doubt vary. It’s a hell of an impressive book regardless, as she avoids the pat answers that sometimes accompany stories of this nature. She also mentioned in her note with the books that she’s taking time off from auto-bio stuff for a while to focus on other things, and that sentence always sets off alarm bells in my head. If she means it literally, sure, it’s sometimes a good idea to get away from the whole genre for a bit, or to try your hand at telling a mystery or a science fiction story. But she’s too damned good at this for that to mean that she’s going to focus on her real job for a while instead. Not that I have any say in the matter, but she’s been increasingly onto that elusive “something” with her comics, and I’d hate to see her stop now. Hey, maybe if everybody reading this buys this comic she’ll change her mind! It’s worth a shot. She still doesn’t list any prices, but this thing is huge, so… $6?
Posted by Kevin 
