Suvudu Universe

Alison Wilgus (A Stray in the Woods) has released a new full-color minicomic, Apartment Hunting.

The title’s a pun, you see. Hanne is a licensed apartment hunter in a world where you can shoot wild rooms to obtain housing.

Click that title link for a six-page preview. When I read it, I immediately bought the PDF ($2). You can also order a print version, but then there’s a wait to read it.

What I like most about the story is how much isn’t said. Wilgus is drawing this rich, diverse world but her dialogue is spare, conveying as much in what isn’t verbalized as in what the characters say to each other. In going out on a hunt, Hanne’s doing a favor for Jokum, who makes his jerkiness clear early on.

She’s quietly competent, but he’s showing off, which makes it all the more fun when she can contradict him with facts. I want to know more about why she would bother doing him this favor and what they used to be to each other, particularly given how stupid his assumptions are. There’s enough in the story that I can read the hints, but I’d like to spend more time with Hanne.

Plus, as seen on the cover, there are square trees, which I love.