Full Story Highlights: Beginnings

In honor of the New Year, this month we present stories about beginnings—or, more precisely, firsts. The first dog in space, a first tattoo, a burgeoning artist’s first comic. And for this column a minor first — the first time I regretted not saving a story for an upcoming theme. That one only took two consecutive columns to acheive. Ah what the heck — call it an unofficial entry or just call it lame repetition, but if you didn’t read Neal Von Flue’s Europe’s First Smoker last month, here’s another chance.

 

Laika, the First Dog in Space

  • Free
  • Josh Rosen
  • Ryan North
  • One page
  • Read this story

A fictional retelling of the true story of Laika, the Russian space dog who rose from poverty to go on a fantastical journey, but never returned. This story was published as part of Whispered Apologies, the ongoing experiment in comics collaboration run by Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics). The conceit of this experiment is that artists submit completed comics artwork, for which the writers then compose text.

 

20 Years on a 12 Hour Clock

An experiment in non-linear, non-narrative autobiography. The story presents brief snippets of moments from throughout Larson’s first twenty years of life, briefly summarizing herself just prior to her twenty-first birthday. Larson says of this piece: “This is an experiment in proximity. I turned my life inside out and put it back together according to new rules, hoping patterns would emerge. Few did, but I’m certain this concept can go much farther.” Hope Larson is the creator of Salamander Dream and Gray Horses.

 

Beginnings

One of the first comics Telgemeier drew, Beginnings recounts the day when Raina was nine years old, and her father gave her a copy of Barefoot Gen to read while on a camping trip. This is the story of how she first came to understand both the horrors of war and the power of comics. Telgemeier is also the creator of Smile, and is the talent behind Scholastic’s graphic novel adaptations of The Babysitter’s Club books.

 

The Mark

  • Free
  • Ben Templesmith
  • Andrew Dabb
  • Three pages
  • Read this story

A one-night stand becomes so much more, when a very supportive man takes a college girl to get her first tattoo. This story is part of Andrew Dabb’s dark and troubling anthology series, “Slices.”

 

Seeing Himself In The Mirror For The First Time

What is the value of beauty? A look in the mirror brings a moment of truth and a crisis of confidence for the young hero of this short comic. Srdjan Achimovich is the creator of the historical webcomic Little White Knight.

 

Find more completed series and short stories at Full Story.

Xaviar Xerexes

Wandering webcomic ronin. Created Comixpedia (2002-2005) and ComixTalk (2006-2012; 2016-?). Made a lot of unfinished comics and novels.