Those Who Travel Alone

Those Who Travel Alone
B. Sabo
Self Published

One of the things that I always enjoy about going to comic conventions is getting to see independent artists.  You know those folks that are really talented but it seems like its often harder to find out about them.  And that’s one of the things that I enjoyed most about going to TCAF a couple of months ago was getting to just look at all of the different artists/writers that were coming and finding new folks to keep up with.  And B. Sabo was one of them.   Poking around her website I was impressed with her art style and line quality, which in some ways reminds me of Chris Schewizer’s work in the Crogan series.  And Those Who Travel Alone was one of her more intriguing pieces that she had at the show.  It’s a horror tale, which normally isn’t one of my favorite things, but this one had a nice Hellboy/BPRD vibe to it.

Meredith and her pup, Toby, are out traveling.  Aiming to make for the mountains in the distance, but they have to get there first and luckily a train comes on by to help them along.  Leander, a fellow traveler, helps them both jump aboard the train.  Leander’s a bit hungry and was hoping that Meredith and Toby could help him out.  Turns out that Meredith is hoping Leander can help her with the same problem.  And Meredith isn’t one to be taken off guard.

Even though this is only a 12 page comic I like the story that we get here as it illustrates well don’t trust appearances.  It applies to all three characters…well maybe not Toby.  Toby’s just a pup like he appears to be.  But Meredith and Leander both have secrets hanging about them.  B. sets up the heart of the story quickly, but carefully letting the reader easily think that Meredith is just a normal girl based upon her appearances.  My one complaint is that I want more of the story.  I want to know what Meredith is and where she was coming from.  Hopefully B. will tell more of Meredith’s tale.

The artwork is what really caught my eye though and is where I get a lot of BPRD feel from it, in terms of color choices and renderings of the characters.  They just have those extra little details…hair on their chin, spots on their arms, lack of pupils—that just give the characters an extra life to them.  The color choices are mostly simplistic, not a lot of overlaying of multiple colors–just a black shade to add shadows–but it works really well with the story.  You can see a three page preview of the comic on her website and begin to get a sense of her style and color choices.

If you like short horror stories then I recommend giving this one a read.  You won’t be disappointed.  I look forward to seeing more of B’s work in the future (and hopefully some longer tales.)