Artist/writer Pascalle Lepas began Wilde Life in September 2014, and the serial webcomic has continued to this day.
The main character, Oscar Wilde, is a contemporary writer from Chicago who moves to rural Oklahoma, for reasons that are not immediately clear. What is clear is that things are not normal; his landlady has two hounds that shape-shift into teenagers, and the home he rents is inhabited by a polite and fascinating ghost named Sylvia. After initially being startled by her presence, Oscar befriends Sylvia and goes out of his way to make her life-after-death a bit easier, supplying her with books on tape and a deck of playing cards.
Though there is some mystery about Oscar initially, he comes across as a thoroughly likable guy. Sylvia as well is a genial and gracious presence. Overall, the series has a comfortable and intriguing feel as it explores what ordinary life might be like for extraordinary creatures.
Lepas depicts the saga with a superb realistic style that settles his supernatural characters in an everyday world with a quiet, low-key macabre atmosphere. His illustrations have a clarity and a simplicity that make for an easy, pleasurable read, going late into the night, and perhaps interrupted by the sound of a set of car keys hitting the floor…
