COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Welcome Home

 Fresh from the first-ever Komiket University, Welcome Home delivered a very simple story with a  refreshing way of storytelling. Eden Sarmiento captured the meaning of being simple is beautiful.

For a new comic book writer/artist, one thing that you want to do is to make a good impression, especially  to your target audience. You want to make a story that will capture not only the attention but the hearts of  your  readers. You want your first story to make a mark to your readers, so they will come back again to your  exhibit  table. But aside from that, you want your first comic book to be remembered. And we do think that  this is what  Eden Sarmiento‘s Welcome Home did.

Welcome Home is a story of a hamster named Scarlet, who is struggling to keep herself alive for her  owner. The comics showed the last few days of Scarlet as she tried to feel fine for Ellie.

Despite being new in the local comic book world and the plainness of the plot, Eden shows flair in her  style  of storytelling. Her panels are not stuffed in a page, but at the same time, are not somewhat empty. Her  art  style is suitable to her plot. It is not too cute and not too gritty — as what might seem to be since her  komiks  tackles about a near-death scene of a hamster. Yes, the cutesy art is actually deceiving in what is actually being  told, which is ironic and gives you more enthusiasm in reading the next pages.

In terms of storytelling, Eden’s style is almost the same to a children’s storybooks. However, it shows a  combination of a manga-like method, which makes it delightful and simultaneously, interesting. It’s not  easy  to combine this two techniques. Nevertheless, Eden did it effortlessly.

This slice-of-life komiks also shows the side of life that we have never thought. Eden shows the frustration of the hamster over her struggles which was highlighted in the facial expressions of the animal. Though there are some illustrations that need consistency in line art, the outcome is clean and the thought is delivered clearly in every panel.

Overall, Welcome Home is an excellent example of a work wherein the writer/ artist risked combining two style and a simple plot, without obscure twists. Eden Sarmiento showed her potential in her first comic book and you would love to see what she can do next.