Genre: Fantasy / Adventure

This series is written and drawn by the award-winning artist, Morag Lewis (who won Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga and a first prize at the International Anime and Manga Festival in 2006).

Printed copies of the comic are available via Sweatdrop Studios' online shop at www.sweatdrop.com, and the entire comic is available to read free online at the author's own site at www.toothycat.net

The series comprises of 4 graphic novels:

- Book 1 (July 2005)
- Book 2 (February 2006)
- Book 3 (February 2007)
- Book 4 (February 2008)

Plot Synopsis

Kite is an enigmatic young woman who is on a quest searching for a world's missing Sun, not the actual ball of gas but the part which shines and inspires people. Soon she crosses paths with the white-haired sorcerer, Saryth, who is to be her companion on this quest. Their search leads them across many different worlds holding their own unique inhabitants and environments. Will they find the Sun...?

The Story

There is one over-arching plot in the form of Kite's search for the Sun, but within that are several sub-plots related to the worlds the two travellers visit and the people they meet within them. Most of the stories are medium-paced, with moments of peril well balanced by happier times.

The Characters

Kite and Saryth are the two main characters, and if they were actors you might say they had good chemistry - they go through a lot together, and as things happen to them their loyalties are stretched. They retain essentially the same personalities throughout the series but seem to grow subtly as individuals and of course become closer companions as the story goes on. The fact that Looking For the Sun has inspired so much fanart, and even fanfiction, over the last 3 years is a testament to the two main characters.

Side characters are many and varied and include adults, children, old folks, family, enemies and mysterious strangers.

Artwork

There are some very noticeable visual changes throughout the 4 volumes of Looking for the Sun - the way the characters and backgrounds are drawn noticeably changes and improves over the 4 volumes (which took approximately 3 years to produce). While some may be put off by this, it should be noted that the characters remain quite easily recognisable as themselves wherever they appear, so it does not impact the reader's understanding of the story.

The artwork throughout is drawn with a nib-pen, utilising hand-drawn detail rather than screentone. This style reflects the often more historical fantasy setting well.

Extras

There are loads of fun extras to be found in these volumes, they include:

- An author's blurb at the beginning of each book
- Character sketches
- Splash illustrations
- Fanart and fanfic contributions
- Explanations by the author of things like the magic system
- Entire extra comic pages and strips

and even a map of the world the series is based in!

Conclusions

A fun series with some interesting characters and worlds to explore. Some may find the artwork in the earlier chapters a little confusing, but as you read on you see more and more of the talent that won the author two awards in 2006.

A good series for fantasy fans and of course fans of UK manga, as it is probably the longest complete printed UK manga series to-date at the time of writing this review.

The main story is topped off by some first class extras capturing the fun the author had whilst writing the series.