Story by Adam Gallardo
Art by Todd Demong
Published by Arcana Studio (100 Girls #0 Published by Lo-Fi Magazine)
DISCLAIMER – In an attempt at full-disclosure, Jessi Nelson, my www.KamenComic.com studio mate, and I are doing an ANT short story for Arcana Studio in 2005 (or thereabouts).
Adam Dark Horse’s STRIP SEARCH Gallardo and Todd Dark Horse’s HELL Demong’s 100 Girls is good. I mean, damn good!
I picked up 100 Girls #1 at Wizard World Chicago while hanging out at the Arcana Studio booth. The artist, Todd Demong was there, signing copies and doing sketches for fans. Super nice guy! As he worked, Todd also took a moment to run down where 100 Girls came from. To paraphrase his explanation and The Story Thus Far… by Adam Gallardo at the end of the first issue:
Arcana Studio’s 100 Girls was born on Dark Horse’s website.
Adam Gallardo (100 Girls’ writer) was also the web content editor at DH. He had been hinting around at printing a series through Dark Horse and had even been pitching some ideas they were receptive to… however, they wanted Adam to put it out through his portion of the company, the website instead of going straight to a printed comic. Adam agreed. (I’m sure being the editor of your own series nicely streamlines the process!)
Enter Todd Demong who’d sent some sample art in for Dark Horse to consider. Adam liked the sequentials and pitched 100 Girls at Todd, who took the bait. They did 100 Girls issues 0, 1, and 2 for the DH website before approaching Dark Horse about taking it to print as a seven-issue mini-series (I hope I’m getting these numbers right). With two issues worth of web comics in hand and a fan base developed through the site, these two creators rightly felt they had a winner! Yet, here’s where it gets interesting, Dark Horse said yes to taking the series to print… but as a four-issue mini-series. The creative team was through issue two (of seven) and had no satisfactory way of restructuring it to four issues. So the deal fell apart because the only way to shoehorn seven issues worth of material into four books would be to restart at step one, scrap the two issues they had already completed, and re-conceive the whole story. And that just didn’t seem possible.
That is, until Sean O’Reilly stepped in and offered to do the full seven issue mini-series at Arcana Studio.
Because of that sticking point, Dark Horse missed out on a GREAT comic! A great, great, great book! But, in the end it landed at a nice little home that really loves it! At the convention, Sean and company were pushing this book and after reading it, I can see why! It has a very polished, mainstream feel to the art and story that makes it sing! And it is a WONDERFUL addition to Arcana’s stable of titles!
BUT, ENOUGH ABOUT HOW THE COMIC CAME TO BE, INSTEAD HERE’S MY REVIEW OF THE STORY!
This issue centers on thirteen-year-old Sylvia, a girl who is one of those unfortunate smart kids that’s been bumped up two years in school, so she’s hanging with the older kids and is a bit out of her depth because of the age difference. When it comes to how kids act, Adam Gallardo has an exceptional insight into how fast kids are growing up. I mean, when the fifteen-year-old boy is hitting on Sylvia (and by “hitting on”, I mean there is nothing childish about it. This really young boy is wanting to “know” this really young girl in the Biblical sense of the word “know”) it is so shocking that it feels authentic. In the real world, when I read about teenage pregnancies or Floridian teachers that date their students, I’m floored. Yet, Adam took this bit of undeniable reality and weaved it into the story in a very clever way that added a touch of realism.
In a nice complement to the writer’s ideas, Todd Demong’s art lends itself to drawing this type of story. And his background in animation helps in the storytelling as I’m not confused by what’s going on despite the sometimes high number of panels per page. As you read you will quickly notice that Todd has no problem pulling the camera back to really make sure you can tell what is going on. Plus, Todd’s art makes the kids feel young which really contributes to the story.
Beyond the Junior High window-dressing of the tale is the overall plot. Sylvia may be a school kid, but there are some people after her (and we don’t know whether they’re good or bad… yet). During the story (and especially in the two-page zero issue in Lo-Fi Magazine number two) Sylvia displays a good deal of strength and agility. She even gets in trouble with her powers. And these people are definitely after her… since she’s number 97 of the 100 Girls they are collecting and keeping in bottles… it’s kind of ah crazy visual when you see them all.
Honestly, there really is a LOT going on for a first issue, but not a moment of it is confusing or tedious. I never felt that the creators were over-explaining the story points. I never felt the creators were cheating by taking a shortcut to get the story going. If I had to compare this book to anything, I’d compare it to one of my other favorites, Josh Howard’s DEAD@17. What can I say other than I just sat back and enjoyed this well-crafted, imaginative tale of a young girl growing up. I can’t recommend it enough! Like I said, it’s good. Damn good!
For more on Adam Dark Horse’s STRIP SEARCH Gallardo and Todd Dark Horse’s HELL Demong’s 100 Girls, try Arcana Studio. There you’ll find a four-page preview of issue one, try it on, see if ya like it!
For more on Egg Embry, try www.KamenComic.com, DEAD@17: Rough Cut #1, or MORE FUND COMICS #1.
What did you think of this book?
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