The Boy and the Worm by Heather Loase (Mini Kus! #135)

Heather Loase immediately pulls the reader in with thick lines, bright colors, and a meta-aspect to the writing. There are scripting notes like “there is a commotion off-page” that read like a comic book script or movie screenplay, which are fun and not distracting. The reveal of the goings-on inside the barn being a boy who entertains himself with his imagination catalyzed a deep sense of nostalgia for me. I recalled myself playing for hours with G.I. Joe action figures, using modeling clay with my dad to create elaborate castles and fantasy figures, or casting and hand-painting lead soldiers with him from WWII or the American Revolutionary War era to then run elaborate desktop RPG-style war games. There are pros and cons with healthy fantasy play; it’s good for a child’s creativity, but can also foster a sense of loneliness. Loase’s narrative eventually pulls out to reveal the author at work scripting the very book you’re reading. This allows her to depict all of the trials and tribulations, the self-doubt, the impostor syndrome, inherent in all creative types. I literally laughed out loud at her scene involving being bulled at an Italian deli, drafting a faux apology letter to the Kus! publisher, or imagining her work in bargain bins! (This resonated; I knew I’d arrived as a writer when I bought up my own work in 50% off discount bins at San Diego Comic Con to resell at full price at my next signing!). Loase is an excellent cartoonist, using exaggerated caricatures and emotive figures, which is hard to do at small scale, but it’s quite effective here, even in an immersive double-page spread that boasts 27 panels! This is funny and entertaining, but also a meditative treatise on the act and process of creation itself. This is superb comic book making.