[close] You all had a best friend at one point in your life; someone you could watch silly movies with; someone who shared their candy; someone who didn’t laugh when you told them you wanted to be a superhero, astronaut, or pro-wrestler. And even if you drifted apart later in life, that best friend still had a strong influence on you as a child…but where’d the friendship start? What was happening in your life when that friend came along and dragged you off to the movies or the park or a rickety old tree house?

In the case of a young girl named Marie, the friendship began by a chance meeting after her mom told her to go play outside on a beautiful summer day. That early encounter is the basis of the first of three interlocked short stories contained within this volume. Each story focuses on an element of Marie’s life, from meeting a new friend to her burgeoning awareness of her mom’s mental illness. While this later theme is explored in the graphic novel "the road to god knows…," Marie is only 8 years old at the time of these three stories. As a result, she is only just beginning to be aware of the world around her and her place in it.

Each story stands on its own but, when taken together, they help to illustrate that childhood, like most aspects of life, has its ups and downs. Being a child can be fun, scary, and magical; but sometimes the things that seem very little at the time can have a profound effect on you later on in life. That’s certainly true for Marie and her experiences in these stories help bear that out. Later, in "the road to god knows…," we see just how significant some of those events can be.

In addition, this collection includes a large amount of supporting material. Concept and thumbnail art give a peek behind the curtain and show how each story was put together. Von Allan also discusses where each story’s inspiration came from and how ideas form. Lastly, he shows each step from story outline to completed script. [close]