And Then I Read: THE LOST BOY by Greg Ruth
Image © Greg Ruth.
I’m very impressed with this graphic novel written and drawn by Greg Ruth. I don’t think I’ve seen his work before, though he’s been around for over a decade. Both the writing and art are excellent. The writing is layered, with realistic kids in both the present and the past atop a menacing structure of dark magic and odd creatures. The art is black and white with masterful gray tones, often utilizing a dry brush look that is perfect for the story. The characters come to life with the subtle nuances of real expressions and action placed in settings full of mundane reality or atmospheric menace and high fantasy when needed.
Nate, a teenage boy, and his family are moving into a new home in a small country town. Nate does not seem happy about this, though when he looks out the window of his new bedroom to see a large, impressive treehouse in the yard, he perks up. Another find is more important: a squeaky floorboard is lifted to reveal a hidden tape recorder and tapes. Shortly into the book Nate begins to play the tapes, but we the reader see what he hears as a new narrative by another boy named Walter from many years in the past.
Walter’s tapes are a sort of diary and report on many strange happenings and fantastic beings he’s been seeing around town, and in nearby Crow’s Woods. Creatures like a talking squirrel, a living toy doll and a cricket riding a dog and wielding bow and arrows are one thing, other creatures are much more powerful and menacing. Walter seems to have few friends, though he does have one ally in town, a shop owner named Haloran who not only believes Walter’s stories, but seems to know a lot about the deep magic and hidden evil below the surface of the quaint town.
Back in the present, Nate is befriended by Tabitha, a girl his age who’s been investigating the magic and the disappearance of Walter years ago. Nate and Tabitha are soon drawn into deep danger in Crow’s Woods in an exciting quest to find the lost boy.
Highly recommended.
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