As a fan of comics, you’re quick to realize how new favorites come in the most surprising of places. Whether it’s bizarre quarterly books like Brahm Revel’s black and white ape Vietnam soldier epic Guerrillas, superimposed Final Fantasy sprite comedic powerhouse 8-bit Theater, or graphic novels you read about on blogs like Nick Abadzis’ Laika, sequential art (as Scott McCloud would call it) comes in all shapes, sizes, and situations.
Of course, receiving a random tweet from a coworker recommending a web based comic breaking down a young woman’s day to day life in Portland seems about as unlikely a scenario for something that I’d enjoy as anything. Therein lies the magic of comics as the recommended comic was Emitown, and it has rapidly become one of my favorite reads on a daily basis.
Emitown is written and drawn by a Portland cartoonist named Emi Lenox, and it really is what I said before: a one page daily breakdown of what went on in Emi’s life on that day. While that may sound uninteresting to some, Lenox’s vivid imagination, inventive layouts, and palpable charisma makes every day an adventure within the incredible minutiae we all experience.
Everything about her creation is unique, but in particular what captures me are the layouts she uses. There is nothing traditional about this, as she uses a free flowing art style that works logically but really does not look like anything else out there. The fact that she will even include post it notes from her daily lists adds to the realism of the day and somehow ups the surreal content from a comic standpoint, as I can count the amount of times I’ve ever seen post it notes on a comic page with one finger.
She also does a brilliant job of capturing her imagination on the page in a fashion not unlike how I’d love to do for myself. Just earlier today, I was talking to a friend about how I wish I was a good artist if only for the reason that I could capture what pops up in my imagination for all to see. Lenox essentially does that, as this is basically “The World According to Emi” (my apologies to John Irving for completely ripping him off). So not only do I check out her whimsical daily updates with childish glee, but I also sit there shaking my fist at her out of envy for being so damn talented.
No less, this is A+ work from an extremely talented young and relatively unknown creator. Hell, even her lettering is precious. Help me spread some love her way, as she deserves it. It’s probably just a matter of time until she gets more recognition, so get in while the getting is good so you can respond to people with “Emitown? Yeah I know that book. I was reading it back in 2009.” and flash your dork trump card like we all love doing.
