My Life In Records: Chapter Three – Use The Force

My Life In Records: Chapter Three – Use The Force is a 24-page, full color, square comic written & illustrated by Grant Thomas.

Grant explains he originally began this series as an autobiographical web comic about the influential albums in his life. As the series progressed he shifted the narrative a little in favor of using fictional characters and he changed the format to square printed comics. The result is a square mini comic that resembles a miniature album cover!

In this issue Grant recounts the playful joy of two young brothers as they visit their grandparents to watch Star Wars on VHS and also play with their Star Wars action figures while listening to the movie’s soundtrack. Other events unfold as time passes but a youthful excitement for the wonder of Star Wars (video and music) remains a central piece of the story.

What really stands out to me is the design. Grant never fails to introduce inventive approaches to his comic storytelling. Rather than simply formatting My Life In Records as a traditional mini comic or digest comic zine, Grant carries the theme of music into the physical construction of the comic by making it look like an album cover, or maybe more appropriately, the booklet/liner notes found inside a CD case. This attention to design adds not only an aesthetically pleasing quality to the comic but also a sense of completeness to the overall arrangement of the comic.

You can lower the needle and spin the turntable of Grant’s Life in Records at http://bit.ly/1Dxop42

via Almost Normal Comics on Tumblr at http://bit.ly/1Dxop44