Seq. Art: Americus, Troop 142, Kevin Days a Week

Americus by MK Reed (script) and Jonathan Hill (art)

Americus is a graphic novel scripted by MK Reed and drawn by Jonathan Hill set for release in fall of 2011 by First Second. However, you don’t have to wait to read it! Under special arrangement with the publisher, Americus is being released page by page (updated three times a week) online! It’s the story of book censorship (“The Chronicles of Apathea Ravenchilde” series) in a small town in Oklahoma, and I eagerly await each page.

If you don’t usually read webcomics (and admittedly, I do prefer hardcopy to digital), no worries. Americus flows well and is updated frequently so you don’t forget the story (of course, you can always flip back as needed). The creators also annotate selected pages, with details of their writing and drawing processes, and there are guest consultant bloggers on Fridays, too. And even though I’m reading it online for free, I still plan on buying a physical copy when it prints.

(From Americus by MK Reed and Jonathan Hill.)

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Troop 142 by Mike Dawson

Mike Dawson wrote one of my favorite autobiographical comics, Freddie & Me: A Coming of Age (Bohemian) Rhapsody from 2008. I admire his clean, sharp drawing style and tight scripts.

Troop 142 is the fictional story (although Dawson was a Scout) of a week at Boy Scout camp circa 1995. It’s a seven-part minicomic, with each day of the week comprising an issue. Issues #1 to #5 are currently available.

I’m finding Troop 142 to be a compelling read because there don’t seem to be many stories about the friendships in a boy’s life between the ages of approximately 13 to 17. Sure, there are plenty of science fiction and fantasy novels (e.g. Harry Potter series, the Knife of Never Letting Go series, much of Heinlein’s YA fiction), and other novels that focus on the development of one young male character, but I can’t think of too many examples that involve groups of boys of this age as characters who get equal time. The only examples I can think of are somewhat dated: Gordie, Chris, Teddy, and Vern in Stephen King’s novella “The Body” (on screen as Stand By Me); Kevin Arnold and Paul Pfeiffer in The Wonder Years; Sam Weir, Bill Haverchuck, and Neil Schweiber in Freaks and Geeks; and even Doogie and Vinny Delpino in Doogie Howser, MD. (If you can cite any more recent examples, put them in the comments.)

Troop 142 features Dawson’s crisp artwork, pacing, and dialogue, with multiple storylines intertwined, but never confusingly so. It won a well-deserved Ignatz Award at SPX 2010 for “Outstanding Online Comics”, and was also nominated for Outstanding Artist, Series, and Mini-Comics. Troop 142 is an excellent novel, and I eagerly look forward to the conclusion.

Troop 142 is available for free online. If you do enjoy it, consider buying it in hard copy or tossing Mike Dawson a few bucks. (Not sure if it’s found a publisher yet, or there will be problems actually getting it published due to the use of the Boy Scouts.)

From Troop 142 by Mike Dawson

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Kevin Days a Week: Year Three (2008 to 2009) by Kevin Burkhalter

Another year, another brick of diary comics from Kevin Burkhalter! Kevin Days a Week is one of my favorite annual purchases, in all its chunky goodness. A cool feature of this year’s installment is that Kevin allowed different comic artists to draw the strips for February 2009, which coincided with recovery from an emergency operation to remove scar tissue blocking his intestine. Yeouch! (But still a lot of fun to read!)

From Kevin Days a Week! by Kevin Burkhalter