Local - Softcover

Wood, Brian. Kelly, Ryan.

3.98

3,999 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 8896064007 ISBN 13: 9788896064009

Publisher: Planeta De Agostini, 2010

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From Brian Wood (Demo, DMZ, Northlanders) and Ryan Kelly (Lucifer, American Virgin) comes Local, a collection of twelve interconnected short stories. Crossing genres as it crosses the country, Local examines Megan McKeenan, a young woman who sets off from Portland, OR with nothing but a backpack and a bad case of wanderlust. Each emotional vignette is a self-contained story that represents one year in the life of this young vagabond as she struggles to find a place to call home, both physically and spiritually.

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Review:

"This graphic novel in 12 short stories follows punky dreamer Megan McKeenan as she roams America. Each short represents a different year in a different city, as she takes odd jobs, gets into creepy relationships and lives the extended childhood of many 20-somethings. Though she often lies and gets into dodgy situations, Megan approaches people with the instinctive wisdom that only young wanderers have. Wood, author of the hugely popular comic DMZ, has created a contemporary ballad to the idea of the open road. It's both frightening and freeing to see how identity can be as fluid as location. Megan moves from state to state, dealing with roommates and dead-end jobs and looking for an existence that befits her intelligence and desire for authenticity. She's not a lost cause; she simply chooses, for personal reasons, to drift a while." --NPR - Best Graphic Novels Of 2008

"This is the quintessential "must own" indie comic and a piece of material that should grace every discerning reader's bookcase everywhere." --Ain't It Cool News

"LOCAL is the kind of book that you could base an entire career on; it's some of the strongest work I've seen from Wood and Kelly, and it doesn't surprise me that it's also the most attractive collected edition I've seen from Oni Press. From the metallic fifth ink on the lower half of the front cover, to the soft cloth binding on the spine, it's a truly handsome book that you'll want to have on your bookshelf. I was also delighted to see that the back of the book collected not only Wood and Kelly's essays from the original issues, but color reproductions of the covers and even the guest-artist pin-ups, all of which could have been easily left out. LOCAL is a really remarkable book, both in terms of what Wood and Kelly initially planned on doing, and in the final execution. This is, easily, one of the books of the year. Prepare to take a trip around the United States and Canada with Megan McKeenan. Trust me, you won't regret it." --Comic Book Resources

From Booklist:

Megan McKeenan, a very young woman, sits at the heart of these 12 interconnected stories that are pulled together in the final two chapters into a well-worked, cohesive novel. Each story is set in a very specific North American place, from Portland, Oregon, to Richmond, Virginia, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Austin, Texas. In them, Megan is engaged in the multifaceted journey of finding herself as well as in the physical journey so many stops involve. Through them, Wood explores how she reworks her role from scene to scene and in her developing life again and again: practicing identities, shifting reasoning to protect ego, daring to remember and re-engage the past. Kelly’s black-and-white art bursts with details that make each place as well as more immediate spaces, such as Megan’s car, vibrant and multidimensional. Combining road saga, bildungsroman, and existentialism, Local has something to suit the tastes of readers who already like Capote, or Kerouac, or Albertine Sarrazin, and has the potential for leading others to explore such more traditional, equally nuanced storytellers. --Francisca Goldsmith

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