FRANCIS SHARP IN THE GRIP OF THE UNCANNY - CHAPTER ONE
by Brittney Sabo and Anna Bratton
Synopsis: After missing his favourite radio serial, Francis Sharp gets into some Narnia-type business and stumbles into a land where his ears look funny.
01. Women creating comics? Next thing you’ll be telling me they want their basic rights. We’ve got trouble, my friends, right here in River City!
02. Now that both my “sexist remark” and “The Music Man reference” boxes are checked off, let’s talk comics, shall we? Clearly, I just finished a good one, and you all need to know about it. You know, after I get the crazy out.
03. Francis Sharp needs to be smacked. At least that’s probably how my parent would’ve dealt with me, had I been acting in such a way. Not hard enough to actually hurt, but hard enough to give you a bit of a jolt, to let you know that you should probably stop screwing around, you know? Anyway, Francis is a kid and like most of us when we’re younger, we’re easily lost amidst the stroylines of our favourite programs. His is a radio show about The Occultist, a dead man who only kills other dead things, for the sake of the living. Awesome right? Well, he certainly thinks so. In fact, this character takes up too much of his time, and while he’s meant to be doing chores or making sure the family’s cows don’t escape, he’s daydreaming about going on awesome adventures. Then one day, his parents need to sell their radio to make ends meet. Which is when things go haywire.
04. Built like your classic Narnia-type story, Francis Sharp is the story of a boy who stumbles upon a strange world. He doesn’t do it on purpose, of course - he’s just playing a bit, and then things take a turn for the strange. Once in this land, where all the people have strangely pointed and furry ears, he ends up befriending a pair of cousins who seek to get him back to his home. Naturally everything goes according to plan, and without conflict or consequence. OH NO WAIT.
05. The art in this book is really quite amazing. Reminiscent of Craig Thompson, though without this more flowery bits of storytelling, it not only evokes a time gone by, but builds a completely new world in a relatively confined space. Within the confines of the book’s 90 pages, a lot of ground is covered (though we’re not yet at the meat of the story) and a lot of that comes down to Sabo’s ability to tell a good chunk of the story through scene work.
06. I would absolutely love to see more books like this out on the stands. It’s one of those special projects like Bone that are built with an eye for people of all ages and tastes - perfect for children and adults alike. It’s a self published book, so I’m not exactly sure if it will remain available for comic shops, but you should be able to get copies from Sabo herself - and hey, if you don’t want to buy sight unseen, there’s some preview pages up on her site as well.
Recommended if you like: Bone, Amulet, Flight, and good comics.
