Twig #1 is the debut of a strange, fantasy character that looks like a fairy tale mixed with something out of Dark Crystal! The cover by interior artist Kyle Strahm has the lead character, fuzzy and lbue with the twig sprouting from his head, surrounded by his bizarre world of mushrooms, slug and beetle-like creatures, and the rest of the cast including a twitching eye mountain. The winning part is Twig’s gleaming eyes and grin! This issue is crafted with a tale by Skottie Young, whose other series is I Hate Fairyland. The charming and strange art is by Kyle Strahm, whom also provided art for Image Comic’s Unearth.
It is morning in this world with the call of a bird-like creature, a Karook, and the home of Twig made from a tree. It looks like something that is half-Hobbit with the round door and half-Smurfs with windows and a balcony. The call reaches the comfy home of Twig asleep in his bed. We closeup to see him awake and smiling. Then, he realizes that he is late like the White Rabbit in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Twig dons his twig hat, reverse pack strapped to his belly and greets the slug-like Splat. He didn’t realize that he had to waken Twig and acts as a quipping companion. The creatures and trees remind him that he is late. Twig reaches the edge of a cliff.
This leads to a two page spread that has the monstrous Mount Guphin who is not happy that Twig is starting as a Placeling. I think the mountain’s name hints at the McGuffin, the Hitchcock storytelling device, an object of a book or movie. The mountain has foliage around him, a big rock with a twitching eye, stub of a nose, and wide, toothed mouth. Mount Guphin reminds him that his task has the world and other ones depnding on him. Twig looks dejected, I like the expressions from Strahm’s art, and says he is ready. The mountain opens its mouth and sends out a rocky tongue for Twig to step on. He enters the dark mountain and Splat begins to glow, but Twig suddenly falls into a hole!
He grabs Splat and begins happily sliding down a tunnel with toothy skulls in the wall. They fly out and smash into a floor. He is met by a worker with construction goggles and an orange shape like a toad. The woker admits that they don’t have torches up in Guphin’s mouth. The worker tells him the boss is waiting for him and they take a mine car into the Belly Mines. The miner says he wanted to be a placeling and Twig says he was a chef before he took over for his father. They reach the end of the tunnel and start walking into a world of blue, glowing mushrooms. This has a very adult meaning, so this is a more of an adult fairy tale.
The boss is very froglike with a toothed mouth and a two widely spaced mining goggles. Twig admits he was late. The boss strikes a small chest with his cane and it opens to a glowing, red stone with a rune on it. The boss says it will lead him to the Pathsayer and he gives him a small map to get to his cartogratory. Twig puts both items into his belly packs. Then, the miners see him off on his adventure through a sky with long flowers. Twig makes a shelter after a long walk and has Splat find luna shrooms for him to cook up. Twig is a chef cutting up the shrooms and tells Splat about his joy of cooking. They look up in the night sky with three moons of different colors. It is a fun, fantasy world, something out of Henson and Miyazaki. Twig #1 covers the Placeling's journey through the world to find a mystery with the Pathsayer!
Four Toks out of Five!
#Twig, #SkottieYoung, #KyleStrahm, #Splat, #MountGuphin, #Pathsayer
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