Twig (Skottie Young & Kyle Strahm)

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

Twig
Skottie Young, writer; Kyle Strahm, art & designs
Image Comics, 2022

Twig is a fantasy miniseries that combines a mission to save the world with super-cute graphics. The titular character is an adorable little blue-haired critter who became a "placeling" (a journeyman who takes mysterious magical objects to the Pathsayer, who will send him on a quest to place the object where it is needed) because his father died without an apprentice. There would be no story if a few things didn't go wrong, but it's way worse than that. Twig and his sidekick Splat find the Pathsayer dead, so they manipulate his equipment to read the magic gem they brought, which blows it up...so they have a new quest to go on before they can even get to the main quest. Which involves a coming Darkness that will cover all things, so no pressure. The whole story has a manic energy that carries it along, and despite the sense of dread Twig also has an optimism that prevents the situation from ever feeling hopeless. Plus it's relentlessly cute, thanks to Strahm's relentlessly cute art! It's much like Young's I Hate Fairyland, minus the endless anger and frustration.