It’s sometime next year in a different place and a different world. The internet is falling apart. The internet is only a part of the story, though. The story is actually about a girl working in I.T. This is Europe Comics’ Sofia #1 - Red Chair Beach. Italian writer/artist Davide Tosello creates a warm little fantasy set somewhere on the edge of everything next year. It’s a plaintive, peaceful sort of adventure in which the title character rests at the center of an ensemble exploring a strange and wonderful fusion between the ocean and the internet. Tosello uses clever formatting to create something that feels quite new and unexpectedly invigorating. 

There’s a wave coming. It’s an old legend. Sofia’s heard it before...but her sister, Thea, has heard fresh rumors of it on the horizon. Sofia’s not all that concerned about it OR the impending collapse of the internet that everyone seems to be talking about. She’d rather catch a very real wave on a very empty beach. (Everyone is online. No one ever spends time on the beach anymore.) Before she can enjoy herself, Sofia has to help a client out with a virus. It can’t be destroyed. Her only solution is going to have to involve...letting it go. She’s also created an echo of herself online. Before she unplugs, she lets her virtual self go explore the virtual world. What’s the worst that could happen?

Tosello’s writing is simple and clean. On one level, the dialogue might sound overly simplistic and even a bit stilted in places, but it paints a pleasantly serene and uncluttered world that serves as a backdrop for a story that seems to be headed into a fantasy world of contemporary mythologies based on the broader aspects of internet culture. It’s a fun idea that is laid out in a very calm and collected fashion that gradually embarks on its journey through its first 80+ page issue. There isn’t a whole lot to Sofia or her echo, but there doesn’t have to be. She’s fun. The opening of her adventure is equally fun. 

Tosello’s manga-inspired art rolls across the page with the same clean simplicity found in the artist’s writing. There aren’t any messy details or sketchy scribbles to clutter the page and panel. Screentone shading is used sparingly against a wash of cool, beachy colors that set the perfect mood for a casual vacation-like adventure into the waves of a world beyond. There’s a very natural and engaging quality to Tosello’s drama that creates a peaceful feeling. 

Tosello matches scenes in the story against songs that are handwritten on old audiocassettes in the margins of the action. Comics don’t often use playlists to help set the tone. It’s not a technique that tends to work too terribly well, but Tosello does a brilliant job of matching the mood of the story to various pop tunes. If you’re hanging out with Sofia for 80+ pages, it makes sense to listen to the same music she’s listening to. There’s a blissful synergy between page, panel, and tune. Tosello is really onto something special with Sofia.

Grade: A