Rice Boy (comic book)

Rice Boy is a webcomic created in 2006 by Evan Dahm. The comic is a surrealistic fantasy epic, dealing with themes of mythology, religion, and good/evil. It is a member of the Koala Wallop webcomics collective.

Due to its fantastical and surrealistic nature, Rice Boy is hard to place in a genre. Some websites list it under 'Religion and Philosophy' due to its somewhat overt themes which relate to those concepts, while others describe it as 'psychedelic' because of its surrealist aspect. Dahm, however, prefers to describe the comic as Fantasy.

History

Rice Boy was started in April 2006. Dahm created a few characters using the ideals and methods of the early 1900s surrealist art movement, and produced a story to go around them. The comic then naturally evolved into a fantasy epic.

Structure

Rice Boy, despite being a webcomic, has been kept very much in the style of a standard comic book or graphic novel. There are currently three books, with a fourth in ProgresS and a final fifth chapter planned. Each book is divided into around ten chapters, each consisting of around around five to ten pages, with new pages being released in groups of three to five on a somewhat weekly basis.

Plot

Major Characters

Rice Boy is the titular character, and hero of the comic. Evan Dahm describes him as "A little fellow with no arms or legs who lives in the Matchwoods. All he can do is grow plants and watch sunsets and listen to stories, but he's gone on his way to maybe repair the world."

The One Electronic (T-O-E) is a machine man who was chosen by "god" to find the fulfiller of an ancient prophesy, and as such is immortal for as long as his quest requires. Evan Dahm says of T-O-E "Machine-Man prophet, ceaseless chain-smoking wanderer with a monitor for a face. He is a pretty nervous fellow with a purple jacket he's been wearing for several centuries. He is very serious AbOUT the job he has to do with Calabash, his only friend: locate the Fulfiller and assign him to his task. Please forgive his occasional insensitivity; he is a robot, after all, and he's under a lot of stress. Pronounced Tee-Oh-EE, or teeyoWEE."

Calabash is T-O-E's partner, who ends up despairing in his and T-O-E's quest. Evan Dahm writes "T-O-E's old friend and partner in a very difficult job. He was alive and drinking heavily for over 3,000 years, searching for the Fulfiller with T-O-E with varying degrees of conviction. He enjoys vodka, the Occasional Cigar, and in general being a bad role model. In The Book of Spatch, and by those who do not know him personally, he is referred to as the "Round Brown One.""

Gerund is a horned creature with an insatiable appetite who hails from the stone palm. He seeks vengeance against the Bleach Beast for stealing and, presumably, eating his younger brother. His entry in Evan Dahm's online encyclopedia describes him as "An orange horned fellow from the Stone Palm. Eating is definitely his favorite thing to do. Gerund is shy and pretty nervous, and has never fit in with other natives of the Stone Palm. He is traveling in search of the Bleach Beast."

Golgo is a mercenary who was hired by Spatch II. Once known as "Angel Eye", he has a history with T-O-E. Extremely well suited to espionage, his false eye can actually fly around, collecting information. Evan Dahm describes Golgo as "An extremely nasty bounty hunter with a magic right eye that goes wherever he cannot. Golgo will kill or spy on anyone for the right price. His mount is a green thing with a large nose, and he was usually accompanied by Dolly, until recently. He is drinking the Black Spirit more and more to keep himself alive, and once knew T-O-E very well."

Spatch II is king of the Frog-Men, the son of Spatch, who was selected by T-O-E and Calabash as fulfiller. Spatch became corrupt, and Spatch II is no better. According to the online Rice Boy encyclopedia, Spatch II is "Son of Spatch, who, according to the Book of Spatch, holds all of his father's power and divinity. Spatch II has black eyes, a black robe, and a strange hat. He is trying to initiate a Holy War against the latest Candidate chosen by T-O-E and Calabash."

Dolly is a Frog-Person who initially traveled with Golgo, being his "assistant and sort-of girlfriend." When it became clear that Golgo had become evil, she left him, journeying instead with T-O-E to the Black Teeth. She has a pair of magical boots that talk to her when she is alone.

Maquìn is a young machine-man who meets up with T-O-E while T-O-E is recovering at Knosus' home. He then journeys with T-O-E to the black teeth. Evan Dahm says "A young Machine-Man, and a scout of the military of the Black Teeth. He adheres to the traditional morals and ways of thought of the Machine-Men, and is somewhat quick to anger. Pronounced Mah-KEEN."

Parod is a wise man and Heir of Ridrom who Rice Boy was told to seek out. He lives in the Red Mountains of the desert of Skortch, and is feared "by all who know of the Red Mountains as a vicious sorcerer."

Religious Connotations

When asked in a forum why the symbol of the Church of Spatch resembled a cross, Dahm replied

"Yeah my little opinions on religion and all that are sort of overflowing their confines, I guess. The Spatch symbol didn't start out based on a cross, but I like that it can be taken as a kind of satire of the bad bits of Christianity."

The Fulfiller

The concept of a fulfiller chosen by an ancient prophesy echoes the many religious Messiah myths. In both, the "chosen one" is expected to "save the world" (either literally, as in Rice Boy, or in a more metaphorical sense). Spatch, the Frog-Man of the Sunk Swamp, highlights the flaws of choosing a hero in such a way - instead of fulfilling the prophesy, he exploits his position as fulfiller and becomes evil and corrupt.

Spatch II costume

The costume that Spatch II wears can been seen as resembling that of the Pope or a Cardinal, both clergy men of the Catholic Church.