After last week’s comic post I found that I am much more excited about reading my comics. I really dig recommending stuff that I love, especially if it’s possibly not getting the attention that it deserves. Though I am sure that his name alone is enough to sell most people his books, I’ve fallen for Rasl, the latest creation both drawn and written by Jeff Smith. You may know of Jeff from his work on the fabulous Bone comics, which were adapted into a two episode adventure series by TellTale, the same great folks who are now bringing us Sam & Max episodes.

Presented completely in black and white, the art in Rasl has a very raw feel to it. Even the paper itself feels like it was plucked freshly from a sketch pad and stapled together. I don’t know how much the texture of a comic matters to other people, but it can totally enhance my experience with a comic. Another recent example of a book whose paper really lent itself to the… atmosphere, for lack of a better word, is House of Mystery. Go check that out as well, if you don’t mind some mature content; it’s about three issues in.

Speaking of mature content, look out for it in Rasl as well. The main character, Rasl (believe it or not), is an extra-dimensional art thief. However, somebody’s on to him, and he doesn’t know how they’re able to track him down. This is because Rasl hops from dimension to dimension by using a special suit (pictured), but it would appear that where he ends up is somewhat left to chance. So far, Rasl has been able to discern if he is in his home dimension depending on whether or not Bob Dylan’s music exists. I’m also not sure where he procured such a highly useful yet undependable suit; there are still many unanswered questions as the book is only two issues in and appears to be on a quarterly release schedule. I’m hearing that it is to be an on-going series and not a mini, so it’s probable that there is a lot of it to look forward to in the future. I would like to see it put out on at least a bi-monthly basis, though; I had almost forgotten about it between issues one and two as I picked up the first one on a whim. However, after reading issue two this last week, I can safely say that I am hooked, and I would like for others to share my joy.

As of writing this, Sci-Fi Genre has both issues one and two in stock in their back issues section. Think fast!