Written by Mariah McCourt and drawn by Aaron Alexovich, Stitched presents an interesting and curious story. A Franken-girl wakes up in a mysterious cemetery knowing nothing about herself or where she came from in the first days of her “life” meets the inhabitants of a very strange place.
This is a great first chapter for what I think is going to be a great story. The proposal is attractive and the plot, in general, is very easy to read. There is nothing that is difficult for the reader follow and understand; I mean, it’s a comic for children, but it’s still good for adults as well.
However, it looks like the author is more focused on pleasing the public that Stitched is intended for than in the content and story itself, as there seems to be several holes and loose ends that I hope to see filled in the next chapters. It’s a shame, but there’s still enough potential for this story to unfold in an interesting fashion.
Crimson (our Franken-girl) reminds me of the dark and funny characters I used to see as a kid on TV (characters I honestly miss, by the way), but she’s not that good those predecessors. There’s something missing, and I’m 99% sure that the reason is that “love-meant-to-be”. Hated it, completely. That single scene ruined almost the entire book for me…
However, there’s still hope for this to turn into a new series that I’m sure I could learn to like, as this is just the beginning. There have been better comics, sure, but knowing that Stitched started with a good foot and it’s the first graphic novel for kids wanting a little more edge makes it earn a lot of points.
Speaking on the art, I can’t say anything other than that I completely love it. It seems natural, and moves very fluidly to the eye. Everything is very comfortable and even the funny moments work as well as the darker ones. There are some panels that caught my attention and made me look at things deeper and re-read the entire scene just to fully grasp the magic.
Alexovich surely knows how to put a spell on the reader, mixing the panels all around the pages, breaking the traditional structure and covering the whole art space as if working in a big collage. There are no blank spaces, just wonderful drawings and colors everywhere.
The best part was to seeing the lettering combined with the art and the coloring, making it look like a part of everything and not just another element in the pages. Some sections I consider to be real pieces of art that I’d gladly hang on the wall.
I can say that, as long as you don’t expect a big elaborate story, you’ll easily fall in love with the charismatic character that is Crimson Volania Mulch. She’s funny, her friends are as well developed, and the setting takes you back in time to when you were just discovering the darker world that art can create.
Final Score:
3.5 of 5
About Author
