Why I Read: Radio Silence

It’s been a while since I’ve written up a “Why I Read” wecomic review/recommendation, but I’m happy to be reporting on a fun slice of life comic about an British Indy rock band, Radio Silence, by Vanessa Stefaniuk.

Synopsis:

Vanessa describes the comic very well herself (unsurprisingly), on the comic’s about page:

Hitting the road on a journey of self discovery and acceptance, this coming-of-age tale gives a backstage look at friendships and the plights of fame as experienced by a modern British rock band.

The eponymous Radio Silence is a hip new Indy rock band just starting to really make it big, going on tour, and dealing with life, relationships, and of course, drama. The comic focuses quite nicely around the 5 band members, with relatively few side characters so far, allowing it to really focus on the mains, developing their personalities and relationships quite well.

It’s cute, fun, and well drawn, and I like it! And I think you will too, and I’ll explain why below 😉

How I Found It:

Fun story, I actually discovered Radio Silence by being a judge for the StArt Faire 2016 Excellence in Webcomcs Awards, where it won an Excellence in Drama award. Since then, I’ve been keeping up with it on Twitter. Radio Silence has a Facebook page, and Vanessa also has a Patreon page where you can support and get goodies and pages early.

Why I Like It:

Radio Silence has a lot going for it. Vanessa is an excellent artist, with both great linework and colors, anatomy, shadowing. Pick an art word, she’s probably doing it well 😉

But while the art is great, my favorite part the comic is most certainly the characters. They’re diverse, relatable, detailed, and interesting, and Vanessa does an excellent job of introducing them to the readers without relying on heavy handed prose. Very much showing, and not just telling.

Check these pages out!

From this single page, with very few words, we learn a ton about Wren, Colbie, and Shy, their personalities and motivations.

Colbie’s nerdy, enthusiastic and fun. Shy is, well, shy and reserved. But it’s fun seeing him learn to open up with the rest of the gang.

Matt is a bit more serious, but also VERY proud of his fashion sense. Brent is a big ol’ mama bear, looking after the rest and being a good brother to his multiple sisters. And Wren is aloof and mysterious, with a thick Scottish accent and intriguing tidbits of personal history sneaking thru here and there.

The characters are real and deep. In the few chapters up so far we get to see multiple facets to their personalities, as well as meaningful personal growth in all of them. Very impessive storytelling and character development, imo.

So, it’s a great slice-of-life/drama comic, but I also can’t neglect to mention the rock band side of things. I know very little about the music scene, but Radio Silence does a good job helping me feel like I’m getting a backstage pass (look, I know some lingo!).

Fear not, they upgrade to a bus shortly 😉

Anyways, it’s funny, well written AND drawn. What’s not to like?

Things I Think Could Be Better:

I’ve got no complaints or comments about the comic itself, but the website could be spruced up a little bit. Links to the social media sites on the website itself, fixing some coding/formatting errors, maybe a more visual/descriptive archive to navigate.

Closing Thoughts:

If you’re a fan of well written characters having interesting interpersonal relationships and drama to a backdrop of well crafted art, you should definitely check out Radio Science. And make sure you leave Vanessa some comments so she knows you’re enjoying it! We CRAVE positive feedback XD