Above - the delicately composed cover to Mardou's excellent new comic, The Sky in Stereo.
I love minicomics, otherwise known as small-run, handmade comics. They're usually made by people who love comics as an artform, and are often a very good place to start if you like your comics to tell personal, intimate stories.
Here is just such a project. The Sky in Stereo, by St. Louis cartoonist Mardou, tells the story of Iris, a young woman who's working in a local burger joint, crushing out on her punk rocker co-worker, and flirting with a world of drugs, music, and bootleg horror VHS. Set in Manchester, I hear that The Sky In Stereo is the first installment in a much longer narrative.
Why do I dig this comic? It's really wonderful when an artist can show you what the world is like through a character's eyes. In The Sky in Stereo, we hear Iris' thoughts, and get a real sense of what it's like to be this self-doubting, witty, intriguing young woman.
It's a lovely, personal glimpse at adolescence as it really is - a place full of surprises and disappointments, with lots of possibilities that fizzle out, or take us in very unexpected directions.
Even better, this comic has an uber-crafty cover, collaged out of bits of magazines and painted paper by the author, and photographed with loving care.
This segment is a substantial 52 pages, but there's even more coming. Keep your eyes peeled - and in the meantime, pick up a copy in Mardou's Etsy shop.
