The birth of a webcomic is a beautiful thing. Like a human baby, the first glimpses of the webcomic are, well a little gross. But after it gets cleaned up it is a sight to behold. Soon you watch it grow and get more complex, and it starts to do things that surprise, infuriate, and excite you. Eventually it matures and you get a sense of the personality buried inside. Am I talking about comics or babies right now? Both.
So it is with Sophie Goldstein and Jenn Jordan’s delightful comic, Darwin Carmichael is Going to Hell (from here, DCiGtH).
Darwin Carmichael, the titular character, lives in a world where mythological monsters, people, and beasts live together in relative harmony. Darwin has the unfortunate problem of having awful Karmic debt that has assured him a place in Hell unless he redeems himself. His best friends, Skittles the manticore and the plucky Ella Fitzgerald (no relation) try to help but often end up doing more harm than good. Skittles may be the best character ever created: a 2000-year-old manticore who was once owned by Oscar Wilde, William Howard Taft, and Batman (to name a few) and who has the personality of a 13-year-old girl. Brilliant. Darwin and company live in the über-trendy section of Brooklyn where hipsters (like Darwin’s roommate Matt) and harpies mix freely and café’s are staffed by South Asian deities and dryads alike.
DCiGtH features an ensemble cast of characters, from Patrick the Minotaur landlord to the stoner angels who frequent Darwin’s couch. Almost everyone in this world seems to have it out for Darwin who just can’t seem to do anything right, be it reducing his Karmic debt or doing a favor for someone. The strip avoids slapstick for the most part and tends towards more cerebral humor with a hint of social commentary. Art-wise, the illustrations are simple and beautiful; the characters pop off of the detailed backgrounds and really seem to take on a life of their own.
Though there wasn’t a very clear plot at first, the comic has come together exceptionally nicely in the last few months, providing backstory for the main characters, new conflicts, and larger story arc that is shaping up to be very interesting. The writing, always good, has been exceptional lately, especially during a recent arc where scenes from Darwin and Ella’s past were interspersed with scenes of their current relationship, which provides the reader with new contexts through which to view the characters. There is quite a bit going on in this little comic, but it rarely feels cluttered, a testament to the skills of Goldstein and Jordan’s abilities, to be sure.
This is really one of my favorite comics out there and well worth a look, especially for fans of Happle Tea, Ugly Hill, and Overcompensating.
