Storymama
07-30-2008, 06:53 PM
Anders Loves Maria (http://anderslovesmaria.reneengstrom.com/) - I found it linked off one of my other favorite webcomics, Questionable Content (http://www.questionablecontent.net/). It's a challenging read; the timeline jumps around a bit, and the reader is expected to figure out where they are in the story - present? Recent past? Long ago past? There is usually ample expository text in the author's post below each strip. It's a story of coming into adulthood, unexpected parenthood, coping with relationships, grappling with choices - and be forewarned, some of it is graphic and some of the story is pretty raw. It's *so* not a sex comic, but it's definitely rated R. Plenty of it is very funny, too. I strongly recommend going back to the first comic, and reading it straight through to catch up.
The artist has a really striking and beautiful style (although she changes up the layout and materials she uses) and she can say more with a brush stroke (http://anderslovesmaria.reneengstrom.com/2007/04/30/2007-04-30/) than some print authors say in a whole volume. (That panel is not the usual style, but man alive - the woman is an Illustrator, capital I.)
Oh, and it's originally done in Swedish (a paid gig for her) and then she publishes it at the link above, translated into English. It's set in Sweden, mostly in Stockholm.
The artist has a really striking and beautiful style (although she changes up the layout and materials she uses) and she can say more with a brush stroke (http://anderslovesmaria.reneengstrom.com/2007/04/30/2007-04-30/) than some print authors say in a whole volume. (That panel is not the usual style, but man alive - the woman is an Illustrator, capital I.)
Oh, and it's originally done in Swedish (a paid gig for her) and then she publishes it at the link above, translated into English. It's set in Sweden, mostly in Stockholm.