Nerves
Comic, Kim Edgar, 6 pgs, kimberlyedgar.com
Nerves, from Toronto- and Yukon-based artist (and 2019 Broken Pencil Zine Award Winner) Kim Edgar is a brief six pages of comics. It’s printed on a Risograph with blue ink.
Edgar’s protagonist can’t sleep. They sink into their bed, and follow the roots they find to the source. Things feel pretty good — until they don’t, and the protagonist makes their way back home after biting through the roots.
The choice of blue works well with Nerves, the darkness of the night, and the (at first) perceived safety of the roots being depicted with increasingly lighter shades, shunning the darkness that surrounds them. When things take a turn, the darkness returns, as the protagonist’s face becomes increasingly animalistic and cartoonish. It’s a short comic, but the tone and pace both change quickly, introducing us, showing us around, and then shuffling us back out, all with a definitive arc and clear story.
Everything in Nerves is where it should be, with nothing unneeded or unnecessary slowing things down. It’s fast and effective cartooning. It’s great.
