Red String Omnibus 1

Red String #1-3

by Gina Biggs

They say that two people who are meant to be together are tied at birth by an invisible red thread of fate, but what if destiny was tied up in knots? Red String tells the tales of three high school girls, each searching to find that promised love. In doing so, they find much more than that awaiting them.

This book contains chapters one through twenty-one (original volumes 1-3) and bonus content including the material from the original smaller volumes as well as new content. New bonus material includes the Red String timeline, Gina's art process, anniversary guest art from other awesome webcomic creators, Birthday Bonus comic, Valentine's Bonus comic, and the brand new bonus comic, "Paths we might have walked." (B&W, 632 pgs.)

Genres: Romance

632 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Gina Biggs has been creating comics for over twenty years and recently resides in Portland, OR. She is the creator of the sci-fi romance series, Love Not Found . Other notable works include Red String (Dark Horse Comics, Strawberry Comics), and Erstwhile Fairytales.

Reviews

[Maya]

Dunno how to review this because on one hand this is a super melodramatic, probably culturally appropriative comic, but on the other hand I read it when I was a teen and it gives me feelings and its cute and has cute romance, including lgbt romance. I remember reading the Fuuko storyline and checking over my shoulder to see if my parents would see me reading about lesbians, haha.

So I think I'm going to put aside the "probably culturally appropriative" aspect cause I'm not someone who can speak to that at all. This comic is ridiculously melodramatic at the start, with Miharu being thrown from one guy to another in a big mix-up with two different marriages being arranged by her parents and her aunt and uncle. I think the melodrama got toned down as the comic matured but I can't much remember. I always really liked Kazuo, especially when Makoto was the other choice.

I really like all of the romance sideplots, it makes me want to buy the other omnibuses, cause I can't remember what happened with all of them. Especially with Fuuko and with Reika.

If you don't think too much about it, this comic is really cute and fun.

[Angelica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I red this comic weekly when it was online for free and I think this was back in 2005. I read the comic to completion and haven’t read it since, but I was looking for a bit of nostalgia and so I bought the digital copies to read. This first omnibus is terribly melodramatic, but that is part of its charm! The book gets three stars for the melodrama and the change in art style as the comic progresses.

[Nancy O'Toole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just did the math and discovered that I've been reading the webcomic Red String by Gina Biggs for eight years now. So when I saw that they were collecting the series in these massive omnibuses, I knew that it was time to experience the webcomic in print. It's an interesting feeling, having a manga-style comic taking up physical space on my bookshelf again. You see, in the last eight years, my tastes have changed. Although I still enjoy the films of master director Hayao Miyazaki (a good film is a good film, regardless of the format), and I have a few old favorites on my shelf, anime, manga, and doramas just don't take up much of my mental space anymore. It says a lot about Red String that the webcomic still manages to be so enjoyable, regardless of my changing tastes.

The first Red String Omnibus is worth the hefty $30 price tag, packing it twenty-one chapters of content and plenty of extras. And although the artwork in the early chapters just okay, by the time you get to the end of this volume, it's really developed into something worth your attention. The story focuses on the experiences of Japanese teenager Miharu, who finds that her eccentric parents have secretly forced her into an arranged marriage. Miharu is horrified at first, but her rebellious nature is put to the test when she discovers that she actually likes the guy she's arranged to be married to. This brings forth interesting questions about the myth or the red string, which states that the person that you're destined to be with is tied to you by a red string. But in real life trying to untangle the red strings that connect everyone together can be quite complicated.

Even though the plot occasionally ventures to soap opera antics, Red String consistently succeeds due to it's emphasis on character. Biggs is particular good at the long term characterization, and having a few years worth of the webcomic in your hand really lets you see that first hand. Another thing I really enjoy about the comic is that Biggs is not afraid to tackle real life issues. In this volume, we're able to see the impacts of slut-shaming (Miharu's friend Reika has a bad reputation due to a false rumor spread about her in middle school), and, in one of the most intriguing storylines in the entire comic, homophobia. Although the emphasis in Red String is clearly on romance, the more platonic types of love, such as friendship and family, are also explored here in depth.

If you enjoy shoujo manga, or even young adult literature with an emphasis on relationships, Red String is a worthwhile investment. The story, which will be wrapping up at the end of August, can still be found online for free (the first page can be found here- http://www.redstring.strawberrycomics...) as well as in these print collections.