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Oct 05, 2008

Justin rated it:

Brian Wood’s Local<i/> is twelve years in the life of a girl named Megan. Each chapter (issue) takes place in a new location a year after the last chapter took place. It’s similar to Demo, though I think Local is better written. Wood is pretty adept at portraying human beings in a realistic way, looking at personality, experience, history and environment. Ryan Kelly’s art is nice and fits the story well. The fascinating thing about this series is how much work these guys went to in ge More...

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Sep 23, 2008

Caroline rated it:

A beautiful, oversize collection of the 12-issue comics series by writer Brian Wood and artist Ryan Kelly. The conceit behind "Local" is that each issue represents a year (from roughly 2004 to 2006) and each highlights a different North American city. It also becomes -- almost accidentally, it seems -- the story of Megan, who slowly grows from a teenage runaway into an adult. We see how she changes with every place and watch her interact with (or just as often, avoid interacting wit More...

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Mar 30, 2009

Paul rated it:

I am fast becoming a huge fan of Brian Wood's. Like Demo, this book is about fringe characters, those who are rootless and alienated. The main character Megan is herself rootless, a reluctant travelor who can't put down roots. It is fitting then that she is our guide to perscription drug addicts, brothers who lose it and nearly destroy their famillies, and even her own family torn apart not just by the tragic death of their mother, but of the horrible house where they grew up. Her brother is More...

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Mar 07, 2009

Erik rated it:

Tired of the limited offerings of the comics medium, in an industry seemingly dominated by super-powered folk in colorful tight-fitting spandex? Never fear. Brian Wood – of Vertigo’s DMZ fame – and artist Ryan Kelly’s twelve-issue underdog story is here to remind you of the capacity this medium has to produce amazing narratives that deftly and stunningly wed prose with visual images.

The main storyline of Local is ambiguous at first, as these twelve self-contained stories seem at firs More...

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Mar 05, 2009

Patrick added it

Hmm, how do I review this book? I have this trouble reading graphic novels these days, I read them much too quickly- this only took me maybe 3 or 4 hours to read, and a lot of impact is lost with something I think when I just brush right through them. I think if I was waiting the years it took for this to be finished, waiting for each issue to come out, I would have enjoyed it more and it would have had more of an emotional pull with me.

Storywise, it was sort of a mixed bag. Some of th More...

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Jan 05, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

While visiting my friend Caroline, I took the opportunity to read some non-superhero comics that I wouldn't normally pick up. I've always said I'm not a comics fan, per se--I'm a fan of the Marvel Universe. I enjoy reading comics, but I view most non-Marvel comics the same way I view novels: I'll read them if the story strikes my fancy, but the fact that they're in the comic format isn't enough by itself to get me to read them. But the concept of Brian Wood's Local, as discussed in a few old More...

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Sep 10, 2011

Nick rated it:

This book is very nicely done, some great art, and purely in black and white. Only problem with this book is that is weights about as much as the 7th Harry Potter book, and is taller so it doesn't make for the easiest book to carry around.

This book is broken into twelve chapters and each one takes place in a different city, but the main character Megan is central to about 10 of the 12 and is in the other 2 in some way. It is telling the story of her life as she drives to figure out More...

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Mar 17, 2010

rachel rated it:

So, I failed to keep my original resolution of not flying through this book. After the first issue, I was completely drawn into Megan's story and wanted to keep reading. Around issue seven, what kept me reading was the hope that anything else in the book would match the emotional resonance of the first issue.

It didn't.

Granted, sometimes it came very close. When Megan commits a social gaffe in New York City and is trying to will herself to not react by leaving yet ano More...

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Jul 20, 2009

Nicholas rated it:

Most peoples' perception of the opposite sex are pretty damn flawed. There's really only three kinds of people anyone really deals with, the people who you're attracted to, the people who are attracted to you, and the people thrown your way by circumstances (coworkers, churches, book groups, etc). This is hardly a scientific cross sample of anything, but people base their perceptions around such data.

Much has been said about the sort of capricious girls some men find eternally screwi More...

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Jul 14, 2009

Sarah rated it:

Seventeen-year-old Meg McKeenan waits in the parking lot of a pharmacy in Portland, Oregon, waiting for her boyfriend to finish forging a prescription for narcotics. Twenty-year-old Meg picks up a hitchhiker in Missoula, Montana only to learn that he's struggling with far more immediate family issues than she is. Twenty-one, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Meg tries on identities at her movie-theater job as easily as she changes a nametag. Twenty-five, Norman, Oklahoma, and she learns her mother ha More...

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Apr 25, 2009

jess rated it:

This oversize graphic novel is a collection of 12 issues of Local, and 12 years in the life of Megan McKeenan. Megan's got a serious case of wanderlust, and drifts to 12 cities in 12 years, setting down roots and ripping them back up. In the end, she faces the ghosts of people she left behind, and finds a little peace in standing still. Megan raises questions of identity, community, trust, friendship, and motion. Her trajectory starts in Portland, OR, then she slips through Minneapolis MN, Richm More...

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Apr 12, 2010

Amy rated it:

Megan McKeenan is a drifter - she floats from city to city without ever feeling at home anywhere. We follow her as she muddles her way through various scenarios - a drug-addicted boyfriend; a bloody show-down between two estranged brothers; an obsessive-compulsive roommate; a job at a movie theater where she changes her identity as often as she changes her socks. There are twelve of these stories altogether, each one compelling and well-told. What makes the book even more interesting is that More...

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Mar 10, 2010

Spoonbridge rated it:

I find myself strangely intrigued by this work, but I'm not entirely sure why. Perhaps it is the very effective episodic nature of the storytelling, following the 20-something existence of one Megan McKeenan as she wanders across North America attempting to come to terms with her life and the world. Wood's writing and Kelly's art ably capture the unique vibes of each of the cities and towns Megan visits even without saying much about them. Of course, I particularly enjoyed her sojourn to Minneap More...

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Nov 17, 2009

Brad rated it:

Local takes the format and tone of Brian Wood's Demo and adds two competing elements: the decade-plus maturation of a confused girl and the culture of twelve mostly-young-adult-friendly towns. At the outset, the places are the driving force in the story, but by the end, it's all about the girl, Meg. That switch, and the balancing act between the two themes, is frustrating. Some towns you see a lot of, and get a feel for, but others, like Portland, Halifax or Austin, are story-driven, and coul More...

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Apr 05, 2010

Jake rated it:

My public library has been displaying graphic novels in the worst possible place, above the reference shelves adjacent to the water fountain. This is the second graphic novel I have read in as many weeks as a result of that “Point of Purchase” approach to circulation. Happily, I am 2 for 2 on enjoying such impulse borrowing.

I didn’t fall in love with Local. I thought I might. It has a loner hitting the open road. She’s a survivor. She’s cute. She goes cross country and meets quirky More...

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May 12, 2011

Hung added it

Pretty interesting concept--a series exploring the idea of what it means to be a "local." Each issue (twelve in all) is set in a different North American city and all are loosely linked by the presence of one character, Megan McKeenan (cute freckled indie-chick nonpareil), though sometimes she plays only a minor role. The twelve stories/issues also cover a roughly 12-year time span, starting in 1994, so that adds another layer. By all accounts, each issue received extensive research to More...

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Aug 15, 2009

Don rated it:

This book deserves all the hype it's gotten. The total package, from start to finish, is an evolution in every sense of the word--the evolution of the character, the writing, the art, even the series concept. And I could tell that even before I read as much in the backmatter.

The main character, Megan, sums up her story and the point of the book (not just as a whole, but in each of the interconnected stories in each issue) thus:

You need to do what's best for you, even if it means l

More...

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Mar 05, 2009

Barky rated it:

Ryan Kelly is an amazing artist, and I love how he’s drawn this particular series. Local features Megan, a chronic runaway on her journey through life, love, and the pursuit of happiness. She leaves home when she’s seventeen, and after living many different places she’s finally able to come back to her roots (and the ghosts she’s left behind) in Vermont. This is the story of how she finds herself after running away for so long. Local is split into several different stories – not all of which More...

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Mar 30, 2010

Lacey rated it:

This is one of the only graphic novels I've read that is actually a "novel" and not a memoir. It's essentially a collection of short stories that follows Megan McKeenan as she drifts from one location to another, each story representing a different place and a different year of Megan's life. While Megan's restlessness and some of the poor decisions she made could get on my nerves, they also made her incredibly real. I related to her sense of not being rooted anywhere, although 10 locat More...

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Apr 26, 2011

Very rated it:

Local is mostly the story of Megan McKeenan and her insatiable wanderlust. Each of the 12 stories collected here is set in a different city as she travels around, taking meaningless jobs, hooking up with guys, maybe-almost falling in love, reminiscing about her past, and trying (sometimes successfully, sometimes not) to stay one step ahead of herself. Along the way, she gets into all kinds of trouble and makes a lot of stupid decisions. Basically, this book is like an ode to the nightmare that i More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 20, 2009

Sally rated it:

This was beautifully illustrated, and at times painfully vivid. It left me more thoughtful and haunted than moved. Great concept, but shallow characters. Some interesting narrative shifts make this perfect for my project. The main character, Megan McKeenan, appears in every short story, either as the protagonist or a side character. And the reader watches her age and mature through the series from a seventeen year-old to a thirty year-old. There are even flashbacks to Megan's childhood that More...

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Apr 10, 2011

Kathryn rated it:

Before I purchased this in a used bookstore, I collected a few of the issues. Unfortunately, the graphic novel is missing one thing that each issue has: The writer and artist's personal playlist/soundtrack given at the end of issue. This hardback collection partially makes up for that by including all the issues' covers in color at the very back. Now onto the main character: A lost wandering youth who travels from city to city trying to find her own way in Americana life. Each issue takes pl More...

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May 10, 2009

Broodingferret rated it:

This was very interesting. The whole premise was for this to be a collection of short-stories set in various places around North America that depicted the daily events in the lives of screwed up, yet utterly normal people. While it wound up being one long story of a young woman named Megan, and was done quite well, the really kool thing was the premise for the background art. All of the places that are depicted were drawn from photographs taken from the actual locations in real life, so that More...

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Jun 12, 2010

Lauren rated it:

I took my time reading this one, as I tend to go through graphic novels much too quickly. The first story really drew me in - a bit like "Choose Your Own Adventure" genre with all the possible outcomes and scenarios of one single action - as you meet Megan McKinnen, the young main character of the book. There are 12 issues in this volume, gathered together to show 12 localities where Megan travels or has a connection to. The cities and towns span the US and Canada. Some of her expe More...

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Jul 09, 2011

Raina rated it:

What a gorgeous piece of work. Slices of life from all over North America, covering a dozen years. The binding is notably artful and there are liner notes in the back. I find myself wanting to open the book to a random page and just stare forever. The edgy realism is just breathtaking. This is the kind of sequential art I would frame and put up on my wall (obvious shout-out to Ryan Kelly). I particularly enjoyed the vignettes which were a touch twisted - Polaroid Boyfriend; The Last Lonely More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 25, 2010

Michael rated it:

This graphic novel is awesome. I have had for about a year now sitting on my shelf and was like I need to read this. I love Brian Wood's comics so I just read it. This book is about different cities in North America. It has one main character which is not always the main focus in each chapter, but plays a part. The art is great too. It's a realistic style that works well with the story. You get the sense that this comic takes place in the real world not some fantasy world of spaceships an More...

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Feb 09, 2009

Lindsey rated it:

Wow--what a great concept for a graphic novel--the images are great, the stories are pretty strong--not always, like #4 is the least strong and most jarring in not fitting with the rest of the book; but after reading the artist notes in the back, it made me appreciate the authors' process and progression through changing the format from location and a consistent character throughout, to a story about one person, each year of her life on the road. I like reading about other artist's processes an More...

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Sep 22, 2009

John rated it:

I really enjoy Brian Woods DMZ comic and decided to pick up Local at the library. The story follows Megan who travels around North America trying to determine who she is and where she belongs. Each chapter features a different location that is weaved into the story. The art work was beautiful and the writing really delved into the glory and troubles of youthful freedom. It shows Megan as a seriously flawed character whose mistakes are a necessary part of becoming an interesting and whole per More...

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May 08, 2011

Melissa rated it:

This graphic novel is a collection of twelve short stories featuring Megan McKennan. Megan is a young girl who leaves her home with nothing but a backpack and sets out to discover herself and find out where she belongs. Each story is set in a different city and follows Megan's attempts to succeed.

I really enjoyed this set of stories. At times I found Megan's adventures were a bit unrealistic but there was definite strong emotions in this story. Megan was very believable and I wanted More...

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Jan 21, 2011

Kokeshi rated it:

A stellar graphic novel with superb illustrations and story lines. Local is definitely a cut above most of the graphic novels out there.

I was a little frustrated by the set of stories as an overall collection because I felt like it did not go deep enough. The collection felt like it just scratched the surface of events and emotions and then in the last story Megan seems to have everything figured out. It felt as if something was missing. However, I still feel that this is a remarkab More...

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