Saving the World #9 is a comic written and illustrated by Tonicmole. After waking up butt naked in a random area a young woman discovers her life has completely changed. This story has a slice-of-life feel as we follow the lead and get a close look at her life and how she feels about everything. Our leading lady in question is Sam, a high schooler who thinks life is a drag and who just wants to hang out with her friends. Surprisingly, series stalwarts Kierra and Nora are absent from this issue. The plot begins with Sam hanging out with her friend Auger outside a gas station while partaking in some friendly banter. We then follow Sam home as she observes her community and things flow from there. There are themes of discovery and it has the feel of a coming-of-age movie form the 90’s. Surprisingly, there is no action here. This is a slightly-slower paced story that takes its time through each moment. Think of this as going on a chill journey; situations never get too intense. The dialogue is youthful with quick quips and insults. There aren’t any heavily wordy pages. This comic is a nice change of pace from the previous issues in this series and it gives us a new and interesting lead character that you’ll want to see more of.

            The art here is in black-and-white and drawn in a style that is somewhat a blend between cartoonish and realistic. The scenery doesn’t stand out but if you focus on it you’ll notice that the buildings and nature work together and help bring life to the backgrounds. This story primarily takes place in a neighborhood full of individual houses and sizable lawns. The interior of Sam’s room really shows off her personality and style. The expression level here is pretty high and the looks come across extremely well due to the high amount of detail in the faces. The faces do have a slightly cartoonish look but nothing too odd. The range of emotions here is vast and fit what you think you’d see from and angsty teen. Bodies are drawn with a good sense of realism and are proportional. The outfits Sam and her friends wear give off a grunge vibe. There are some nude moments here but there is a SFW version so the nude level depends on which issue you get.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like coming-of-age/teen stories starring a woman with some body transformations and a chill vibe this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R for nudity, but that depends on the version.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Ya know, once the hypothermia kicks in it ain’t so bad.”

 

Physical Link: https://toniccomix.com/collections/shop/products/saving-the-world-10

Digital Link: https://toniccomix.com/collections/buy-digital-comix/products/saving-the-world-9-digital

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tonicmole/saving-the-world-9-comic-book/description

FundMyComic Link: https://www.fundmycomic.com/campaign/146/saving-the-world-9

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

*
*
*
*
*

Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 31

Violent Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 4, for 13% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 1

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 1

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 1

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 3, unless it is the SFW version, in which case 2

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”