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SLOW NEWS DAY #6
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Slave Labor Graphics
Writer/Artist: Andi Watson
Price: $3.50 US |
I'll be damned. I thought Slow News Day was a slice-of-life story about friendship and finding one's place in life. It was about those ideas, sure, but it turns out that this limited series, which concludes with this issue, is actually a romance comic. Or, to be more precise, it's the prologue to a romance story. This story is completely enthralling, because the reader doesn't think about a story. Watson has crafted characters that are so convincing that one forgets all about the fiction and dives into the interaction instead.
Katharine finds both her television-series concept and her relationship being perverted by the people and spirit of Los Angeles, and she finds herself wishing for something else in life. The small consolation is that a large British newspaper has picked up a column she pitched, "English Notes." Meanwhile, back at The Wheatstone Mercury, the managing editor job opens up, and Owen considers it, while also considering what he's looking for in life.
I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before, but Watson really has an amazing eye for architecture. Even with his simple style, he conveys the unique lines and curves that comprise the buildings around us, from a snooty L.A. restaurant to a simple house in a small English town. As always, his characters are emotive, and the simplicity with which they are rendered gives them a universal look. It's easy to imagine people we know in the "roles" of the characters. Another interesting visual aspect of the book comes when Katharine final sheds her pretensions and realizes what kind of work would really make her happy. Her hair loses its sleek, meticulously coiffed looked and gets pulled back into a cute ponytail. It's an excellent symbol of a turning point in her life.
We finally get to "meet" Katharine's mother in this issue, and while it's easy to see why she rubs her daughter the wrong way, the reader is able to see something in her that Katharine doesn't: wisdom. Her methods may be manipulative, but her intent stems from that she truly cares.
Watson has shown his readers the barest snippets of two people's lives. Seemingly ordinary events take on a greater importance, and since it's so easy to see ourselves in the characters, the everyday things in our own lives take on a greater meaning. The next thing on the Andi Watson horizon is the trade-paperback edition of this series. Those who missed out on Slow News Day would be well advised to pick it up. As for those of us who got on board from the start... well, I'll guess we'll just suffer until his next new project is announced.
Email Don MacPherson comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.
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