In The Local Pocket #1 - How To Make A Friend

In The Local Pocket #1

Whenever new comic book day comes round I always try and pick up a series that I haven't read before it's a great way to find different series that you might enjoy and I always think the more variety the better. I always look in the local section as I think it is incredibly important to support local talent in all art forms. Local, creator owned comics are usually funded by the creators personally or through websites like Kickstarter. Creating these comics is more than just a job for them it's a passion that they pour their heart and soul into.

Local creators usually love signing their work

How To Make A Friend

How To Make A Friend is written, illustrated and published by Chris McQuinlan. How To Make A Friend is one of the most charming comic I have come across and I enjoyed it immensely. I showed How To Make A Friend to my mother, who has never read a comic in her entire life, and she enjoyed it so much that she asked me to get a copy for her because there was no way in hell I was parting with mine.

I wish I could make friends this easily

How To Make A Friend is about an old wizard who misses is late wife and is shunned by the people in the local town. He is so lonely he decides to make a friend using a magic spell book and creates a small pixie like creature and that's as much as I can tell you about the story. One of the things I love most about How To Make A Friend is that their are no words in the comic because you interpret the story the way you see it. I won't tell you how I interpreted this comic because I want you to come to your own conclusion about the story and the wizard.

Right in the feels :'(

The characters are drawn in a delightfully simple, way with magical smiles that will just melt your heart. The panels in the town are simple and clear and seem to be drawn as an entire piece of art rather than a character and background but as the story moves into the wizard's home and forest the backgrounds are drawn with a few trees, rocks and tufts of grass that don't draw the eye away from the characters but still give a clear in-depth look to each panel. The art is done in entirely blue, black, white and a tiny splash of red. The use of the blue to show light and shadows is magnificent and one of may favourite parts about this comic giving some of the panels an almost 3D look. The artist has clearly worked incredibly hard to have these wonderful details in every panel with not a single panel of lower quality in the entire comic.

If your heart isn't melting right now there is something wrong with you

If it sounds like I'm having a nerd-gasm over How To Make A Friend its because I am. I really enjoyed this comic and really just loved its innocence, joy and sadness. Unfortunately it is a little hard to get a hold of a copy at the moment so I actually emailed the creator, Chris McQuinlan, to both let him know how much I enjoyed his comic and to find out where I could possibly get a copy for my mother. Chris is hoping to have more copies printed up for Super Nova this year.

Check out Chris McQuinlan's website here and his twitter

I give How To Make A Friend 4.5 out of 5 magical smiles

Nawwwww I want one