Children of the Atom

Toronto comic artist Dave Lapp won acclaim for his first book, Drop-in; Children of the Atom collects his strips from the Vancouver weekly Georgia Straight, telling the stories of his two characters Franklin-Boy and Jim-Jam Girl. The two speak in riddles, playing and dancing a line between childhood and adulthood at varying times. Their discussions of dead goldfish and fear of the dark become philosophical, as the two characters go through their absurdist adventures packing themselves into boxes or each other’s body parts, hurtling through space, or drifting across oceans in a lonely boat. Through his simply-drawn strips, Lapp manages to tie in friendship, love and existentialism.