October is a time for scary things: lumbering zombies, non-sparkly vampires, serial killers in the closet, the flapping sound of leathery bat wings, strange lesions on the back of an arm, things that go bump in the middle of the night, missing time and surprise property tax bills.
October is also a time when comic book publishing companies release the darker-themed periodicals that they’ve been saving for the past nine months. One of those books, for instance, made this column last week. There will be another before the month is out, I promise.
Sure, monsters and evil and all the other bad things associated with the current change of season are frightening, but what could be more horrifying than the thought of being trapped on the wrong track of life, caught in the wrong occupation, while a special talent is slowly sucked away?
That’s the premise behind Not My Bag by Sina Grace, a new graphic novel from a fairly new voice in sequential art.
Not My Bag
By: Sina Grace
Published by: Image Comics
Ok, so Sina Grace has been around the comic book scene for a while.
Actually, he was most recently the Editorial Director of Skybound Comics. You know, Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman’s imprint over at Image Comics? So it’s obvious that he knows all about zombies and scary people. But Grace is also the artist of the beloved series, The Li’l Depressed Boy, and a few years ago he illustrated Amber Benson’s (actress of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) young adult story, Among the Ghosts. Hmmm. I suppose he knows quite a bit about the various types of undead.
Which brings us to Not My Bag, Grace’s fictionalized autobiographical tale of a talented young artist stuck in the wrong occupation.
Who here hasn’t felt like they’ve spent time spinning wheels at a dead-end job, making ends meet, whilst dreaming of their true calling? Jeez, some of us might be in that sort of situation right now. Whether current or remembered, it’s a scary thought, isn’t it? Not My Bag opens the curtain on writer-artist Sina Grace, an emerging young voice in the medium of sequential art. Here, he envelops us with a gothic take on the pressures, the trappings and the treachery of high fashion. There are ghosts here, and devils, too. Co-workers and bosses can always be the most dastardly of wickedness, right? Of course, in these pages, there’s also the drama and heartache of failed love and waning passion – mixed with the lightness of comedy. Not My Bag is a human story, after all, and there’s always some light in the darkness.
So make the run this Wednesday and pick up Not My Bag by Sina Grace, a sort of humanist scare during this frightening season – a story that also serves to remind us of our innermost, and truest, callings.
Every Wednesday, JP makes the after-work run to his local downtown comic book shop. Comics arrive on Wednesdays you see and JP, fearful that the latest issue will sell out, rushes out to purchase his copy. This regular, weekly column will highlight a particularly interesting release, written in short order, of course, because JP has to get his – before someone else does!
I enjoyed this and will look for the book:)