“Chapter One”
Story: Josh Blaylock & Murs; Script: Josh Blaylock; Line art: Jose Garcia; Colors: Juan Urueta; Letter: Crank!; Design: Sam Wells; Logo Design: Kellynn Knue; Published by Murs/ Blaylock
Yumiko “Yumi” Morales is a spunky and under-appreciated young lady who sells merchandise and runs errands for her boyfriend Q.B.’s band, Murder Acts. Being a “merchgirl”, Yumiko navigates through the world of the band on tour, armed with her spikey wit and buoyed by her trusty skateboard. From fetching java at “Starballs Koffee” to sparring with the band’s trash-talking DJ to dealing with groupies and fans obsessed with Murder Acts and co-billed band Draper’s Mistress, Yumiko babysits the band in every way possible. After a show one evening, she opts out of a Draper’s Mistress show and walks home alone. Our story concludes with Yumiko being stalked by a menacing gentleman, ostensibly a drug dealer, in an alleyway by the club. This sets the stage for future chapters, in which Yumiko is slated to become involved with strange supernatural happenings.
The brevity of the storyline stems from the nature of this very unique project. This is only the first chapter, a ten page teaser, of a 10 chapter, 100 + page web comic. MerchGirl‘s funds were secured through Kickstarter’s pledge program for artistic projects. The comic was conceived by indie rapper MURS and by Josh Blaylock (CEO of Devil’s Due Press [former publisher of Hack/ Slash, a fave of this writer] and writer for everything from G.I. Joe to Mercy Sparx). MerchGirl debuted with the project completely finished – a rarity among Kickstarter programs apparently – and ran in ten installments, for which MURS wrote an original song for each. Each song also boasted a music video inspired by the action in that particular chapter. This melding together of comics, music, and music video was unprecedented.
This initial chapter is rather short, with barely enough meat on its bones to be a completely satisfying read, but more than enough to whet the appetite for the coming chapters. I’m sure the next installments will inevitably play out the story to a fitting conclusion. Even though this is only the introductory chapter, I felt that the writing team could have done a slightly better job delineating the supporting cast. I was slightly (only slightly) confused here and there about who was supposed to be who. Yumiko herself narrates, and there is no confusion about her personality, however. She is a sassy, brassy chick with a cynical sense of humor. She is steadfastly devoted to the thankless jobs she does to keep her man and his band happy. Personally, I found Yumiko to be too good for her boyfriend and the band but I suppose at this early stage in the character’s “life”, Yumiko is resigned to her slot on the food chain, so to speak.
The key to the comic’s success would be that “Yumi” is an instantly likeable, identifiable character of diverse ethnic origin – very relatable to teens, hipsters, musicians, and sundry subculture types. Yumiko’s creators tear a page from the Fantagraphics playbook and delve into the biographical comic world, while at the same time, the supernatural elements to come will mark it as a merger between realism and the fantastic. Artist Jose Garcia’s bright, vivid “neo-manga” style of cartooning is rich and energetic, filled with color and movement, and brings Yumiko’s milieu to rich, incandescent life. I look forward to experiencing this project as originally intended, with the music and the entire story. Online comics are on the rise, and anything that draws so much attention to this burgeoning art form can only be good for all web comic creators.
