From Image Comics publishing and the writer of Figment comes a new comic series. Wayward, by Jim Zub, was a new release on Wednesday, August 27th. It is an interesting new storyline that uses two very different, and at the same time, very similar, cultures; Japanese and Irish. These cultures may seem very different, and yet they are similar in that they both are steeped in lore and traditions.
Steve Cummings and John Rauch team up with Zub to bring an interesting style of artwork to this comic. There is an element of detail that draws the reader deeper into the story and shows that the writer and artist care as much about the visual aspect of the story as they do the written aspect. The images are colorful and detailed. And graphic. A few of the panels made me cringe and shiver.
Rori Lane is a young girl whose mother is a Japanese seamstress and her father is an Irish engineer. She grew up deeply immersed in both cultures. When her parents split up her mother wanted her to finish her Irish education and to have a stable teenage life with her father. However, her father decided he couldn’t handle a teenager and so he sent her off to Japan.
Rori has big green eyes and red locks, and that’s not all she has. She has an uncanny ability to find her way around. She arrives at her mothers with two days to go until her she starts her new school and finds herself in a city much larger than she expected. She starts to ask for directions but stops when and a line appears to show her the way.
She arrives at her mother’s only to find she’s been called into work and Rori is left on her own to do a little exploring in her neighborhood. On her way back home she finds herself followed by a frightening amount of cats. To top it off she runs into some seedy characters who surround her and announce their bad intentions. She is rescued by a strange blue-haired girl with pronounced canines and yellow eyes. This girl knows how to fight and looks delighted as she proceeds to rip the men’s skin from their faces. Once their flesh has been torn off their true form is revealed. After the battle, Rori walks a bit with this odd girl whose name is Ayane. After Ayane chugs down a bottle of strawberry milk, she mysteriously vanishes, leaving a confused Rori standing alone in the streets of Ikebukuro, Japan.
My interest is piqued and I am anxious to see the next issue of this tale. Thank you for joining me here on Comic Booked for a review of this interesting new comic series. Grab yourself this first issue in any one of the eleven different covers and find out all the details for yourself. Also, don’t forget to check out my other reviews for Archie’s last days and the interesting story of man vs. machine in Alex + Ada.
looks/sounds different. might have to check it out!