STRAY #1, available now on ComiXology, follows a traveling doctor on her way through a mysterious forest called The Dream. When she encounters a lost soul, she hears a tale of discovery, friendship, faith, and loss that causes the doctor to question time and reality itself.
The Details
- Written By: Eric Gay
- Art By: Eric Gay
- Colors By: Andy Poole
- Letters By: Eric Gay
- Cover Art By: Eric Gay, Ryan Lord
- Cover Price: $0.99
- Release Date: January 27, 2021
Was It Good?
No, it wasn’t good. It was astounding.
We review a lot of comics on this site (and a few on other sites) from publishers all over the industry, and this graphic novel exceeds the quality of art and storytelling the vast majority of mainstream publishers are offering these days.
There’s so much care and attention to detail, you can’t help but be entranced. STRAY is the new benchmark which we’ll be judging fantasy comics for quite a while.
To be fair, it’s not perfect (nothing ever is). For example, some of the scenes where characters are running look a little static, but the art is so gorgeous, any criticisms are negligible.
Also, don’t miss our interview with writer/artist Eric Gay on this project.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
Tabitha is a traveling doctor wandering the lands to record and gather information about the world for her monastery’s order. One day, Tabitha enters a mysterious forest the locals call The Dream. The forest is so named for its ethereal qualities and the suggestion that the forest lives, breathes, moves, and guides anyone who enters where the forest wants them to go.
During a sudden rainstorm, Tabitha takes shelter in a nearby cave where she meets a young traveler sitting on the floor, facing the cave wall with strange etchings that look like a doorway. After cordial greetings, the traveler explains she’s the lone person from another place of endless horizons lit only by starlight. The traveler claims to come from the other side of the doorway etched into the wall.
When the traveler first arrived, there was a local Naopary (a native peoples with green skin and four arms) girl named Mal. Mal had heard tales from her mother of lost souls in The Dream, and Mal immediately concludes this traveler is a lost soul. Having no name to speak of, the traveler adopts the name Soul for the time being. The two return to Mal’s village.
Soul’s presence in Mal’s village immediately sparks awe and fear, and Mal’s mother brings Soul to the village’s shamanka who divines through stone casting that Soul is sent by their deity as a messenger and a blessing. Part of the divination ritual foretells that Mal must complete the journey Soul has started.
Without spoiling the heartbreaking and soulful ending, Mal and Soul part ways. Tabitha visits the village to verify Soul’s story, and Tabitha eventually leaves The Dream with answers to old questions she’s not sure she’s ready to accept.
Final Thoughts
STRAY #1, available now on ComiXology, is a thoughtful and soulful feast of visual storytelling. The art is gorgeous beyond anything we’ve ever seen for an indie project, and the writing reflects a rare combination of care and imagination.
Score: 9.5/10
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