This was a fun preorder gift to myself — I completely forgot that I’d ordered this so it was a nice surprise package when I got home one day. Chan Chau is one of my favorite artists and I’m glad I got the chance to have a physical copy of this comic. You can also currently read it for free online but there’s something very satisfying about the physical package and slotting it in place on the shelf. Also I now never have to worry about the website vanishing, which is nice.
Looking For Her apparently started as a project for the Original Character Tournament, as it takes place within the Kill Six Billion Demons webcomic universe. Since the characters are OCs, this stands alone and I was able to follow with no real issues even though I’ve never read beyond the first few pages of Kill Six Billion Demons. The narrative follows Rem, a dragon demon scholar looking for their roommate who has gone missing during a magical plague. The color palate is mainly black, white, and red, which is very striking, and I just love Chau’s art so much that this was a treat to read. There’s some real innovation here with panel layouts and story structure, and it was fun to see where the story went. It was a good combination of road trip, fantasy, found family, and learning how to live with making a small but meaningful impact.
My only issue was that because this was self-published, the glue binding is already feeling like it’s about to give way, which I think is partially due to the mailing envelope getting super beaten up in the mail. Not anyone’s fault, and the interior glossy paper is high quality, but for the collector the binding issue might be a drawback. Overall, though, this was a beautiful comic with some super fun and interesting art and layouts, and I would definitely recommend it. I continue to follow Chau’s career with great enjoyment!
