Disorganized Thoughts on Wet Moon by Sophie Campbell

I thought I would start the new year with a rambling blog entry about a work that will surely influence everything else I make: the Wet Moon series of graphic novels. They were done between the years of ~2002 with the most recent pages completed in 2015, a scope that encompasses dramatic shifts in style and in the comic industry as a whole. I'm not familiar with Sophie's other works, most of it being for existing franchises. Wet Moon however stands above as a time capsule of 2000s alternative youth subculture and a slow-burn mediation on friendship, queer community (not falling into cliches about "found family"), mental illness, and abusive relationships. 

I was 13 in 2006 so I missed out on a few cultural touchtones from Wet Moon. 

I remember the feeling of desperately wanting to be Mall Goth, the relief of finding other queer people in Catholic school, and the discomfort of dating boys when I *really* was in love with my best friends, who were girls. It's odd that there isn't a character in Wet Moon who comes out as trans, however there are several characters that could be seen as trans (Natalie, Beth and Zia come to mind).

The comic's medium seems to switch between grayscale Copic marker, digital media, and ink wash, sometimes blending all three almost seamlessly. Some of the changes in art style are improvements, like characters becoming more recognizable with unique body shapes and faces. I was less into books 5 and 6 where Cleo starts to look like a goth Cabbage Patch doll. 

Wet Moon is a slow burn story, not heavy on exciting plot twists (except for one that spans book 6 and into book 7) In my opinion, the best moments are characters having conversations and simply chatting. The dialogue flows naturally and feels real, especially when some of the characters slip into Southern dialects (the story is set in Florida).  The characters move naturally and Sophie manages to make pages where all characters do is chat, dynamic and interesting to look at. Much has been said about Wet Moon's diverse bodies of size, race and dis/ability, and I'm in agreement that it's awesome to see this done with respect by Sophie.

Finally, Sophie is probably the queen of drawing car interiors.