Month: December 2022

In this sprightly comedy titled Blood Stain, chemistry major Elliot is suffering from unemployment for months on end, putting her sister’s family under stress while they provide free room and board. She finally decides to apply for a job as assistant to a secluded scientist, Dr. Stein, rumored to be a “complete creep.” That perhaps is an understatement, since we, the audience, catch glimpses of him on the other end of the phone line, his hands dripping with gore.

Laudably, artist/author Linda Sejic (aka sigeel) doesn’t hurry from point A to point B in the story.  Taking full advantage of webcomics infinite canvas / infinite possibilities format, she leans into Elliot’s job search prior to her accepting the job with the scientist. She even dramatizes Elliot’s personal growth from a too-brief stint as a barmaid.  It is only at the very end of the 19-episode Volume I, after a harrowing cross-country flight, leaving behind a confused sister and boyfriend who don’t know what’s become of her– that she comes face to face with Dr. Stein.

The extended, in-depth storytelling is one of the things that makes Blood Stain so entertaining. Sejic has a boundless talent for conjuring up outrageous complications to mundane situations.  She also has a knack for varied and playful facial expressions that milk the scenes of every last chuckle.  Her rendering style is quite good, and she is a superb colorist.  The story takes place “in the asscrack of the Mediterranean”, and for the Europhiles among us, Blood Stain is a first-rate travelogue of the locale.

In the Eisner Award-nominated series The Isle of Elsi, artist/writer Alec Longstreth displays an enormous talent for creating comics for young readers.  His style is simple, straightforward, and expressive.  When the situation calls for it, he crams an impressive amount of detail into the panels, which occasionally resemble a “Where’s Waldo” diagram. Longstreth’s style reminds me of the french master and creator of Tintin, Herge, though Longstreth doesn’t quite possess the same fitness (no one does!)

Starting out reading a Longstreth story, an adult reader is aware that these are children’s comics with simple plots and goofy humor.  But the narration is so straightforward and skillful that you find yourself being drawn in.  Longstreth is much more respectful of logic and reason than most so-called adult authors, and that quality really pays off when the plot is about a dragon destroying a town. The stories have a subtext of honoring education, learning, and books, and it gives us a warm feeling to see those values diseminated. The author also shows his compassion for the characters, whether it is a mother found weeping at her kitchen table, a family gathered around a doctor wrapping a girl’s broken arm, or two juvenile delinquents distraught at the harm they may have inflicted.

Longstreth has a good reason for publishing Isle of Elsi as a webcomics.  “When I was a kid, I used to ride my bike to the local drug store, where I could buy a wide variety of kids’ comics for seventy-five cents each.  These days, a kid’s comic book costs three or four bucks, if you can find one! And graphic novels for kids can cost ten, twenty, or even thirty dollars! A lot of kids can’t afford to buy these comics!  So I chose to make Isle of Elsi a free webcomic so that as many kids as possible can have access to it.”

We couldn’t agree more!