Boom! Studios 2018
Written by Shaun Simon
Illustrated by Conor Nolan & George Schall
Inked by Chad Lewis
Coloured by Meg Casey
Lettered by Mike Fiorentino
After a disappointing row with his Uncle Sally where he discovers that he won’t be learning great wizardry, Hex endeavours to head home and resume his battle, alone if he has to. Too bad an invisible barrier prevents him from leaving and he’s forced to embrace some beach vibes, his lazy Uncle, and some killer waves.
I think I said it last issue that this was a complete and utter surprise to me and I still feel that way after this issue. The innocence, the humour and the overall sense of life isn’t worth living if you don’t enjoy it permeate throughout and really make you think. It feels like it’s inspired by the likes of Shel Silverstein and Ellen Raskin with possibly some Arnold Lobel for good measure and if you aren’t familiar with them then well, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Who Said Who Said Sue and Frog and Toad are friends should find their way into your household. It has it’s own very unique special magic to it that makes you feel and I don’t mean ordinary feels I mean FEEL in the depths of your soul from your head to toes. All-ages in a way that makes you smile and flashback to a childhood or makes a child wonder why there aren’t more like it.
Shaun just vaulted himself into this place in my list of writers who have made an impact upon me and whose work I will always follow from here on out. This really is the kind of book where it’s structured in the most perfect way, see the chapters, so that it may be broken up into these segments but for kids and some adults that’s the best way to read and understand what’s happening. The perfect storm, lightning in a bottle, Time in a Bottle (the first thing that I'd like to do is save every day ‘Til eternity passes away…) those are all once in a lifetime kind of expressions however THIS this is a collaboration that could happen again and again. This is finding the right combination of talent and creativity, an understanding between writer and artists that culminates in the purest form. The last time this happened it was Wolfman & Perez (the best duo in comics without a doubt) and a few have come close to it but this may just be able to pass that. This is how high I regard the storytelling here.
I have to say the interiors here are just amazingly charming. There is no other way to describe them really. I mean they feel like book illustrations, technically they but…, which is a lot of where I got my earlier references from. There’s a great feeling of imagination and creativity in display here and then add into this the attention to detail in places and it seems to elevate the status of how I see the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a marvellous eye for storytelling. This wouldn’t work as well as it does without how backgrounds are being utilised. I mean they really bring the Beach to life and show this amazing sense of size and scope alongside that tone and feel we need to really fall in love with this place.
The moral of the story, well I think some of us understood it in the first issue and those that haven’t you’ll get it eventually. In the meantime lets see how Hex meets new people, alienates some and befriends others as the rigid young man learns what life is all about. There are few journey’s of self-discovery that are fun and interesting as this, and even Harry would’ve benefited from being somewhere less dark for a while. This is just a beautiful and charmingly written and illustrated story and it would be a shame if you didn’t join in the adventure.