SHED, from Blue Fox Comics on Kickstarter, recounts a modern fable of heartbreak, loss, grief, and a pinch of magic when a woman comes to live in a small town with its very own sea monster.
The Details
- Written by: Richard Fairgray, Lucy Campagnolo
- Art by: Richard Fairgray
- Colors by: Richard Fairgray
- Letters by: Richard Fairgray
- Cover art by: Richard Fairgray
- Cover price: $6.00
- Release date: December 2022 (estimated)
Is It Good?
SHED defies traditional explanations in the realm of comics. It’s a love story and a tragedy, a message of hope and a warning, all wrapped in a curmudgeonly blanket of sadness with a hard outer shell. At its broadest point, SHED is an allegory about the layers of crust that build up over time to protect our fragile hearts. At its narrowest, SHED is a story about the dangers of getting comfortable with other people’s expectations. No matter what level, SHED is a stirring story that shouldn’t be missed.
Fairgray and Campagnola’s story centers around Amber, a young woman who comes to the seaside town of Havelock to run the store she inherited from her father after his death. There, she first encounters the irascible Fran, a senior lady with a checkered relationship with Havelock and its collective of senior advocates, irreverently called the Elizabeths. Fran is the grump nobody likes and the conscience nobody can ignore. It’s through Fran that Amber learns how life and love can steer you down many paths except the one you want for yourself.
Yes, yes. Most of this review is waxing poetic, but this truly is a remarkably unique graphic novel. At 120 pages (counting chapter cover art), it reads quickly, but the mesmerizing number of levels in each chapter could take days of pondering if you so choose. Fairgray and Campagnola’s pacing is breezy, the salty dialog brims with emotion and a fair bit of dry humor, and the ending puts the entire story into a perspective that’s worthy of self-reflection. This is a stunning piece of writing.
The mesmerizing plot is elevated further by Fairgray’s illustrations. There’s a loose, sketchy quality to the artwork, but it reinforces the whimsical nature of the town and its eclectic residents. What sells the story further is Fairgray’s unique eye for asymmetric camera angles along the vertical to make the characters feel like they’re more grounded in the very soil of the town. Again, stunning.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with Amber, a young woman who just moved into the seaside town of Havelock to run the shop she inherited from her dear departed father. Before the shop is open, a chainsmoking old woman dressed all in black, walks in looking for odd items to buy and a borrowed item she believes was sent to the store by mistake – a small, ceramic fish.
Before Amber can find and return the fish to Fran, Betsy walks in looking for the same fish. Almost immediately, Amber realizes she’s drawn into a feud between Fran and several senior ladies of the town. At the heart of the feud lies Fran’s relationship with the recently-deceased Mildred and their connection to a pier that leads tourists to a local myth about a sea monster who lives off the nearby shore.
We follow Amber’s growing connection to Fran as the quest to retrieve the fish turns into a quest to return the right to follow one’s heart. We conclude the GN with living Peerless, a myth made real, and a lesson learned.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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SHED is a mesmerizingly stunning fable about a woman who comes to live in a town steeped in longing, loss, and regret. The writing speaks volumes with the amount of nuance and subtext on display, and the art captures the hint of whimsy in everyday items such as ceramic fish (you’ll get the reference when you read the story). This isn’t a comic. It’s a fairytale that will lift your spirits while it breaks your heart.
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