Expecting the unexpected is, of course, a standard when reading one of kuš! comics’ mini kuš! offerings. Heather Loase’s ‘The Boy and the Worm’ in mini kuš! #135 is no exception. It’s a bizarre, rule-breaking exercise in comics narrative that for all its unpredictability and scattered digressions still feels very comfortable in its own rather rambling storytelling. If that sounds like criticism it’s really not. It’s that very air of the erratic that makes this such an appealing read.
‘The Boy and the Worm’ at first appears to be an exploration of childhood loneliness. A young boy on a remote farm playing by himself is introduced to us via a narration style that reads like a film script. As events progress, however, it becomes something very different. Cartoonist Loase frequently diverges from this scenario, examining her creative block while working on the comic, procrastinating about continuing it, detailing the mundanity of her daily routine, and generally providing a wonderfully self-indulgent meta commentary as events fold in on themselves.
The worm of the title is the boy’s sole friend and his ally of sorts when he finds himself endangered by the unlikeliest of antagonists. Loase’s artwork is crammed and frenetic, even for a minicomic style of presentation, perfectly encapsulating the weirdness and frantic shifting of creative gears that the stor(y/ies) embody. It’s a mess. But it’s a deliberate, entrancing and utterly captivating mess, and yet another example of why the mini kuš! range is always such good value.
Heather Loase (W/A) • kuš! comics, $7.95
Review by Andy Oliver
