How i Made the World #1: Review


Proving that comic books can be more than just a delivery system for dudes in spandex, the creative team of Liz Plourde and Randy Michaels launch their Xeric Award winning comic How i Made the World this month. And it’s simply wonderful.

Here’s the official word from Liz and Randy:

In How i Made the World #1 a college sophomore’s art project becomes an obsession that spins her life out of control. Strange students and dangerous dreams turn her into a “Monster.”

Creator owned projects can sometimes be very hit or miss. Yes, they have major heart, but the HiMtW-cover-7b53e-4f507-193x300danger is that they sometimes trade heart for those little things that make a title really shine –  tight pacing, cogent plot, and spot-on art. It’s for this reason that I was so delighted to discover How i Made the World by Liz Plourde and Randy Michaels earlier this month. Not only does it have heart galore, but it’s one of the most tightly executed one-shots I’ve encountered in a while. In issue #1 we meet a Liz, a college student faced with what seems like a pretty mundane obstacle: the completion of a art project. What follows is what most critics would call a “slice of life” story – we get robust snapshots of Liz’s friendships, we get a little bit about her teacher, we watch Liz smoke cigarettes on a rooftop. Yes, there’s nothing overly dramatic here, but still, this issue accomplishes something wonderful: it makes the reader care. Much of this accomplishment has to do with the pitch-perfect characterization of the protagonist. Sure, Liz is overly reflective, but she’s never self-obsessed; yeah, she’s her own worst enemy, but she’s got her head on straight; of course she’s scared of life, but she’s not immobilized by fear. In this sense How i Made the World is “slice of life” at it’s best: it captures the miracle of the mundane in an extraordinary way.

The art is also wonderful and worth the price of this issue alone – How i Made the World is rich with large one panel shots, creative pacing, and playful POVs. A testament to this creative team’s ability to trust each other, there is plenty of non-scripted scenes where the artist is trusted to tell the story without the cluttering of words.

How i Made the World is a pure joy. Go buy it here.

 

 

OUR RATING
10
+ Great Art + Great Story + Creator Owned Work

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