Space Boy (Comic)

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Space Boy (Comic)

Intro

Space Boy is a popular sci-fi webcomic that is written and illustrated by Stephen McCranie. It follows the life of a young girl named Amy, who wakes up in the future and navigates the unfamiliar. She takes interest in a quiet classmate, whose very presence is shrouded in mystery, and uncovers a deeper plot as she befriends him.

The webcomic began as the winner of the first-ever Webtoon comic contest in 2015, then later published on March 5th of the same year as a Webtoon original series.

It is an ongoing series, updating every week on Thursdays.

Plot

Amy, the 16-year-old protagonist, and her family is cryogenically frozen for 30 years for the journey to Earth after her father loses his job at a mining colony in deep space. She begins her new life on Earth as she adjusts to her new school and environment. As she makes new friends, she tries to befriend a mysterious, lonesome classmate named Oliver. Although hesitant at first Amy and Oliver develop a bond, and Oliver’s background is revealed.

Oliver is the lone survivor of a young colony (called the Arno) in deep space on a mission called the First Contact Project (FCP). The purpose was to reach a location called the Artifact, though tragically all passengers on the ship were vaporized during a maintenance accident when Oliver was a young boy. After the event, Oliver resolves to finish the mission and reach the Artifact himself, where it is believed there are new technologies, materials, and proof that humanity is not alone in the universe.

His physical body lives alone on the ship in the black abyss of the cosmos. His body on Earth, however, is a robot designed by scientists that perfectly resembles Oliver’s form. It allows Oliver to experience a normal life on Earth by projecting his consciousness into it without being physically there, a full-body remote control experience. Details of his identity and the mission are classified to the state, because of this Oliver is not allowed to make meaningful relationships on Earth for fear of disclosing too much. The danger arises when this identity is discovered by Amy, she and her friends are followed and kidnapped. A supernatural specter makes an appearance, threatening to possess Oliver and inexplicably working with the leader of the communications team on Earth.

Major Characters

• Amy is the protagonist of Space Boy. She’s a kind, friendly girl and describes the people in her life as flavors due to her synesthesia. She considers herself pomegranate-flavored. She has brown hair always tied into upward-facing pigtails and light golden yellow eyes.

• Oliver is the secondary protagonist of Space Boy. He’s a cold, distant boy that Amy remarks as having no flavor at first. But he gradually reveals his warmer side when he befriends Amy. He has short white hair and grey eyes. Initially, he has no flavor. Then, orange and cinnamon.
• Jemmah is Amy's best friend from the mining colony. After Amy wakes up on Earth, several years have passed and Jemmah is much older. Despite the age gap, Amy and Jemmah remain good friends and maintain contact. Amy considers Jemmah pineapple and jalapeno-flavored.

Minor Characters

• Dylan is one of Amy's friends from the mining colony. While Amy was cryofrozen and traveling to Earth, he married Jemma. According to Amy, his "flavor" is nutty.
• Cassie is one of Amy's friends on Earth. A fiery personality, and a caring friend who helped Amy adjust to her new life. Her "flavor" is red pepper.
• David is Amy's first friend on Earth and Cassie's boyfriend. Despite his appearance, he has a gentle personality. His "flavor" is sweet like peanuts and caramel.
• Zeph is one of Amy's friends on Earth. A laid-back, fun-loving character. His "flavor" is orange gelatin.
• Mr. Jonathan Kim is Oliver's kind guardian and caretaker. He is the prosthetist who designed Oliver's robot. His "flavor" is chamomile tea with lemon.
• Qiana is a teenager who has been working on the FCP since she was a young girl, raised by Commander Saito. Her "flavor" is peculiar, plum and apple with hints of iodine and copper.
• Commander Saito is initially a strict, cold antagonist who is head of the FCP. She is hinted to be a kind woman, happier before joining the FCP.
• The Wanderer is the mysterious, alien-like being that torments Oliver. It is somewhat in contact with some of the FCP and appears to be plotting something. Its "flavor" is iodine and copper.

Publication

Stephen McCranie's Space Boy won Webtoon’s comic competition in 2015 and got serialized on Webtoon’s website later that year in March 2015 as an Original. On July 3, 2018, Dark Horse Comics adapted and published Space Boy Volume 1 into a graphic novel book. To date, there are 13 published volumes.

Reception

Space Boy currently has more than 440k followers and a 9.84 rating, with 77.5 million overall views. It is rated #3 in the Originals sci-fi genre. In 2019, it got nominated for the Harvey Award under the Digital Book of the Year category. Since then Stephen McCranie has been interviewed on his process and story following Space Boy's success.

On November 25th, 2021 a Youtube channel called "Space Boy: The Official Fandub" uploaded fandubs of most of the season one webtoon episodes. The channel exists out of an admiration for the comic and story and is entirely fan-run. At the moment it is on hiatus.

References

This article "Space Boy (Comic)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Space Boy (Comic). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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