Comicsphere: Nowhere Girl by Justine Shaw

I am what is called a meta-textual reader — I just read the book I am reading, I read every single thing that is associated with it and then continue outwards and ever outwards from there. So a fair while back now I found this story called Lazarus Churchyard and through that discovered this guy named Warren Ellis, maybe you\’ve heard of him? Anyway, cut to the present day and with an intense interest in everything Mr Ellis has written in print and online I have been tracking back through all his archives. And to the point he comes: so I found this column on Artbomb and through that I found Justine Shaw and this wonderful piece of work Nowhere Girl.

I know I\’m late to the party but I am sure I won\’t be the only one so what was a revelation for me will surely be a revelation for others. This is one of those seminal pieces that taps into a frame of mind, a sense of place, and an emotional core that many people will understand. The characters are charming, the stories are compelling, and the artwork is beautiful. Humanity is the beating heart that typifies all the work that I am interested in at the moment and this story has that in spades. I read the whole thing, or the two parts that I could find, in a really short span of time, and it left me wanting more. Makes me wonder why I had never heard of this before — made me feel stupidly ashamed, and proud that I had eventually found it all at the same time. I can\’t recommend it highly enough. You\’ll find it at www.nowheregirl.com do yourself a favour and get over there now!