MISC. MANGA, *Lost At Sea

Before his international fan sensation of the Scott Pilgrim series, Bryan Lee O'Malley started out with a one-shot graphic novel titled Lost At Sea. First printed by Oni Press in black and white, it was later reprinted in color, similar to how they did with Scott Pilgrim.

Raleigh is a seemingly delusional teenage girl from Canada who has impulsively decided to catch a ride with three other people after coming down to California to see her "boyfriend". Her travelling companions on this road trip are two boys, Dave and Ian, plus the chainsmoking Stephanie. Along this long strange trip, Raleigh reflects on her life, and how she thinks her mother might have sold her sold away to a cat for to become a success in business. Whether or not there is any definitive otherworldly or supernatural backdrop to this is never really made clear. However through her experiences with her new buddies, Raleigh discovers a lot about herself as a person, and suddenly becomes sees things a little more positively.

Lost At Sea was intended as a single book, although there have been some short comic strips that expand on the characters in little vignettes. It's style and storytelling are very underground, something akin to watch you might find in an indie self-published mini-comic or zine. You can see the foundations of what eventually lead O'Malley to do in Scott Pilgrim, even though it's not intended to be as funny or filled with pop culture references. Definitely see about at least getting this from your local library if you're not already a fan of O'Malley's style.