re:mote voices

"lost at sea" - bryan lee o'malley - this is one of the latest OGN reduced size books to come from the publisher oni, a format they seem to be favouring recently for these one off stories, and one that works quite well. of those i think that "lost at sea" is the best i've read, the atmosphere and dialogue providing a definite charm.

raleigh is an 18 year old girl who comes from vancouver, who has some how managed to get herself caught up in a road trip from california back to vancouver with 3 kids she went to school with, but barely knows. she is an awkward girl, finding it difficult to get on with people, unaware of how attractive and cool other people actually do think she is. the story meanders in the same way as the journey north does, the four not reall in any hurry to get back to school, and not really sure where they are going anyway. as we go on raleigh reveals how she thinks she lost her soul, which is now in a cat somewhere. with this raleigh also suspects she might be crazy, but it also seems to stem from the year when she lost her best friend (she moved away) and her dad (her parents divorced).

on the whole it is an odd little book, but there is a definite humour and some real laugh out loud lines. in particular the scene where the four of them are looking for cats to see if they have raleigh's soul is a total winner. in character terms the interaction between raleigh and stef (the other girl in the group) is warm and endearing, driving along the relationship aspect and growth of the characters. while i bought lost at sea thinking it might be not bad, i enjoyed reading it a lot.