Day One
Comic Zine, Matthew K. Hoddy, spacepyrates.com, Space Pyrates
Matthew K. Hoddy’s sweet and unassuming comic deservedly won first place in the non- manga category at the 24-hour Comikaze Challenge. Though the final product was clearly rushed to completion for the purposes of the contest, it hardly affects the impact of the story; it’s about loneliness, isolation, shattered dreams, and the wonderful joy our animal friends can bring when no one else is left.
Day One tells the story of a man living on a space station whose routine has become dull and life-sucking. He wakes up each day at 4:00am to get to his job doing routine maintenance of the outer hull of the space station. Through subtle hints, the reader knows this life was once a dream for him. His daily breakfast of “Picardos” and his longing looks at the awesomeness of space betrays his once-passionate desire for this kind of life.
Now he goes through the motions and is disillusioned with life on the station, opting for the strip club as his after-work hobby. He looks out the window to view the beauty of space and wonders where his affinity for it has gone, before passing a man peeing in a corner on his way home. One day upon returning from work, he finds everyone on the station dead, killed by an airborne pathogen from which his spacesuit protected him. As the only one left on the station, he finds himself more alone now than ever before. That is, until he hears a meowing behind a door, realizing that only humans were affected by the virus, and that he isn’t alone after all.
Day One is a worthwhile read for anyone who has ever become disillusioned by their life, whose once shiny dreams of the future have become dull, and for those who have been emotionally rescued by a furry friend when no one else was around. (Nicole Partyka)