The New York Five #1

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Ryan Kelly

As much as I never really figured out DC's Minx line, where New York Four, the book to which this mini-series is the sequel, was published, I think it may have been a better fit for this title than Vertigo is.  But then, this is Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly, so it's an instant purchase, even if it is basically a young adult series aimed at girls.  Even as I type that, I realize how reductionist it sounds...

New York Five follows a group of four freshman students at NYU who are all friends, and who have the same therapist.  The fifth girl, whose presence explains the change in title, is introduced in this issue, but only just.  Anyway, these four girls now live together, and are going through some of the usual struggles of young students (boyfriend troubles, family troubles, marks troubles), and some that seem kind of unique - obsessively stalking a teacher being the most unusual.

Wood and Kelly, who meshed together perfectly on Local (which just might be the best comic series I've ever read), are basically telling a story of New York, in which these girls are incidental characters.  Wood peppers the book with fun insiders facts, like where to go for congee in Queens, and Kelly lovingly draws detailed drawings of intersections and elevated trains.  The book feels like the younger sister to Local, and while truly bizarre in its existence, is well worth reading.