As Japanese manga and anime artists have long known, schoolgirls make for compelling storytelling. There’s probably a good reason for their popularity. Maybe it’s because it reaches out to a female readership while appealing, aesthetically, to the core male readership. However, I won’t go any further with that train of thought because it’ll probably lead to something perverted and more than slightly misogynistic. The genre is so prevalent in Japan that I suspect it’s practically impossible to turn your shoulders without smacking into yet another adventure involving girls in school uniform (usually skimpy).
However, as if to challenge the Eastern dominance on the genre, several Western webcomic artists have created their own stories with schoolgirl protagonists. And you know what? They’re surprisingly good. So join me, reader, in a series of three short reviews for Minus, Aki Alliance, and Alma Mater.
Minus
Minus, created by Ryan Armand, is a webcomic about little girl (the title character) who has magical powers to alter reality, speak to ghosts, and whatever else is required of the storyline. In a way, it’s not unlike Bart Simpson from Treehouse of Horror II; anything that Minus thinks, happens. The webcomic, though, is filled with whimsy rather than horror. Other characters in her world get annoyed from time to time with her pranks, but otherwise don’t give second thought to her supernatural powers. It helps that Minus’ antics seem more good-natured than mean-spirited. For example, when she sends two of her friends into an alternate dimension, they’re entertained or enobled, but never truly endangered. The story is so sweet that serious things like death and aging are treated like minor inconveniences. Armand’s art is beautifully simplistic and recalls the minimalist style of European comics. (Armand himself cites “Little Nemo” as an influence.) Minus is one of the best webcomics I’ve ever read. It’s the sort of comic that causes you to smile and to contemplate the meaning of life at the same time. It’s a shame that its nomination for the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic went nowhere. Rating: 5 stars (out of 5).
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