Monday, April 20, 2009

HANDKNIT HEROES-- Comics for Knitters


Suzanne went to market in San Diego a little while back. Market, as I imagine it, is this super fantasy world where all the yarn and notion wholesalers gather to woo all the top tier knit shop owners. In my fantasy, there’s just this explosion of fiber art love.

Okay, so maybe it’s not really like that. But I do know, from talking to Suzanne, that there really is plenty of cool stuff that goes down. And definitely new and interesting product. This year, it wasn’t some new yarn or diamond encrusted needles that grabbed her most. Instead, it was a comic book.

That’s right. A comic book. It’s called Handknit Heroes and it’s the brainchild of writer/knitter Stephanie Bryant. As she explains in her intro, the idea came to her at a knit night (don’t all great ideas happen at knit nights?). And after mulling it over, she came up with a story and then hired Marc Olivent to illustrate it and knit designer Erssie Major to create a related pattern.

The result—Issue 1—is a pretty rocking little cross between old school comics and new wave graphic novels with instructions for a cool scarf (one that would be useful to a superhero) thrown in. There are four main characters, a bit of mystery, and a cliffhanger ending to entice you to sit on the edge of your seat (knitting, of course) as you await the next issue.

And yes, you can get your copy of the inaugural issue at HCW. It’s $5.50, a bargain for a story, a project and what might wind up being a collector’s item one day.

No comments: