Unlike a lot of the other Important comics, this one is important for a very simple reason. It’s really, really fucking good. All of Tillie Walden’s stuff is great, but Upon a Sunbeam is definitely my favorite. I was in Not A Good Place when I read it, but it’s just such a magical story that it just swept me away into its world. The colors are so vivid and evocative. The world has this softness to it, a malleability that makes it seem more magical. You have classic found family tropes as well as a love story. It’s a story about growing up. To be honest, I don’t think the plot is that brilliant. It’s solid, to be sure, but nothing I haven’t read before. I think that’s the powers of comics as a visual medium. The colors and the grand vistas just pull you in. It’s a story that I needed. One that reminds me that space is wide, and good friends are always there for you. And no matter how trapped I felt, I could always look to the stars and Imagine. And that’s important.
