Do yourself a favor

Okay, class, so your assignment is to read Evan Dahm's wonderful epic comic (perhaps you could even call it a graphic novel) Rice Boy. All of it. What's it about? you ask. Dahm describes it as "a brightly colored and surreal fantasy story, following the limbless, naive Rice Boy and the ageless, depressed The One Electronic as they travel all over a strange world seeking to fulfill an ancient prophecy." It's about destiny and religion, commonness and power, life and death, and accomplishes much with its whimsy and innovation. It stars, of course, Rice Boy, "a little fellow with no arms or legs who lives in the Matchwoods. All he can do is grow plants and watch sunsets and listen to stories, but he's gone on his way to maybe repair the world." The creatures, people, and places he encounters along the way are nothing short of breathtaking; they sometimes appear a bit Myst-like and remind me of Spirited Away, but are otherwise a world all their own. I finished the whole story months ago and was very sad to see it end. For extra credit, though, you can go read the still-developing Order of Tales, which is set in the same universe as Rice Boy.