Emily the Strange: The 13th Hour: 08/15/19

Seven years ago I went through an Emily the Strange phase with my reading. There were a bunch of YA novels followed by comic books. The comic books were hard to come by where I lived and that contributed to my stopping. Turns out the local public library now has some of the comics in their collection so here we are again.

Emily the Strange: The 13th Hour by Rob Reger and Buzz Parker is set on Emily's thirteenth birthday which happens to fall on a solar eclipse.

Before Emily and her mom can enjoy the eclipse, Emily is distracted by a strange gift from a strange, and unknown aunt. Before she can even begin to explore what her gift might do, it's stolen by a weird cat-like creature.

That is the set up for an otherwise metafiction exploration of time and storytelling. Emily's journey takes her through many different worlds or dimensions. It's a similar journey to what Lucy experiences in the third trade collection of Black Hammer. But Emily's journey is wackier and less adult.

Emily's journey sits on the road narrative spectrum. Emily as a solo traveler counts as an orphan. Though she happens upon the home and identity of her mysterious aunt, she remains an orphan traveler (FF) because the aunt is long dead. The journey through multiple dimensions results in a utopic (FF) destination. The route she takes is a labyrinthine (99) one. Yes it's through weird and off-putting dimensions but it's a relatively safe journey and one free of traps and blind alleys. Put all together, it's the tale of an orphan going through a labyrinth to utopia.

Three stars

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