Local
Written by Brian Wood
Illustrated by Ryan Kelly
Lettered by Hope Larson, Bryan Lee O'Malley and Douglas. E. Sherwood

2008
Published by Oni Press
Buy it here.

A Return to the Past...

From time to time I get nostalgic about living in Minneapolis in the 1980s. It was my college years and I think about the random hang-outs we students would show up in: Butler Drug, Shinder's book store, The Black Forest Cafe. One place that I really loved to browse for records was -true name- Oarfolkjokeopus. Pronounced like you're saying four words in a row: OAR FOLK JOKE OPUS. Weird, huh?

So a while back I googled its name expecting to see old photographs or a web blog. But instead what I saw really got my curiosity going: an ink drawing obviously from a comic book.

Each chapter has lots of loose ends that Brian Wood doesn't bother tying up. Instead, Megan more or less picks up her back pack and heads on out to the bus station, or in her car if she happens to have one. At the end of the 350-plus page trek we find her re-connecting with her birthplace after her mother passes away. She takes over the house in Vermont.

What I liked about Local was that it dwelled with Megan interacting with the characters she meets: a control-freak Brooklyn roommate, a shoot out in Missoula Montana, a sexual fling in the back room of a restaurant in Chicago, Megan stays true to her vagabond nature. She doesn't let herself get too connected. She keeps a certain level of distance between herself and her surroundings.

I think Local is about what some of us experience when we move to a new town or start a new job. There's that 'assessment' period where one takes in one's surroundings. The environment is there like a movie being played out and we're a passive observer. Megan intentionally pulls up stakes and hoists her backpack before her surroundings start to become part of her. In that way Megan's development as a more mature adult is her own making. Most of the people she meets are deep in their own problems and responsibilities. Megan will have none of that. She remains a loner and an observer, steering away from potential entanglements.

With a lesser writer/artist team Megan, lacking connection to her environment, might fall flat. There would be no 'story' to tell, no motivation. But the fact that Megan from the beginning is her own person and will not let anyone influence her (not even her own sick sorry punk band brother) shows what she's made of. It's her decision to NOT connect and move on that broadens her as a character and makes her real and relatable.

You can pick up a copy of Local here.