Webcomic Weekly: Lizzy Mikietyn’s ‘His Wonderful Plight’

Webcomic Weekly, one webcomic for you every single week – sometimes old, sometimes new, sometimes a familiar name, sometimes a fresh, young talent.

This week, definitely a fresh young talent, although Lizzy Mikietyn has been in the comics biz since she was VERY young – I first saw and loved her work in 2013 when she was just 15. And now she’s back with another great webcomic, His Wonderful Plight.

As I say, I first saw Lizzy Mikietyn’s work back in 2013 when she was just 15. Her work then was a positive delight and it’s something I’ve followed ever since. She’s now a freelance artist and illustrator alongside a day job in music and, for the last couple of years has been making her latest webcomic, His Wonderful Plight. It’s a wonderful thing indeed.

Her comic work thus far consists of over 100 pages of The World of Oliver, the nine-page short The Boy and the Birds, The Wizard Who Made Nettle Tea, and this latest webcomic, His Wonderful Plight.

Mikietyn’s style is instantly familiar, a very old-fashioned British style, there’s a gentle tone to it all, no matter what the chaos of the gags and storylines may bring, something of the Oliver Postgate or Nick Butterworth in there, maybe some Posy Simmonds as well, that sense of gentle, pastoral storytelling.

Mikietyn’s talent was there, in rough form, right from that very first Oliver strip, but she’s improved and refined it through the years, whilst never losing that playfulness, that loose, organic feel to her artwork.

She’s someone who could well be a big deal in the future, but whether that’s in book illustration – she already has two under her belt – music, or comics remains to be seen.

Whereas The World Of Oliver featured something of a Calvin & Hobbes-esque set-up with a fantasist kid, a reluctant scholar at odds with the world surrounded by the perpetually bemused mom, perpetually stressed-out dad, perfect little sister, and the moody teen big sister, His Wonderful Plight takes a somewhat more heavenly approach to things… here’s the first strip, ‘Prayers’…

Yes, that’s a damn funny strip right there.

There’s 19 strips in season one and she’s working on season two as we speak, with a few strips up already at the time of writing.

Frankly, the strip just goes from strength to strength, with Mikietyn finding a rich vein of comedy in God’s plight, although cleverly never going too far with it all, instead going the much harder route of making it humorous and warm at the same time. A great, great set of comedy strips, full of ridiculously clever and ridiculously funny stuff.

For example… God with a spoon is such a beautifully silly concept…

It builds and builds as well, the single gags giving way to threads of story through the strips, wonderful repeating themes and gags, all played off with impeccable comedic timing and an ever-increasing confidence in both her storytelling and artwork. A particular favourite being the somewhat complicated relationship between God and Jesus…

I could simply go on and on and on about how great it is. But hey, you’ve already seen that with the few strips I’ve already shown you.

So, what are you waiting for – you can find Lizzy Mikietyn’s website here and follow along on Twitter. Go along, show your support for an incredibly promising young artist.

Oh, quick bonus… something from Mikietyn’s past, The World Of Oliver:

And The Boy and the Birds: