(W) S.E. Case (A) S.E. Case In Shops: Mar 05, 2025 SRP: $15.00
Rigsby, Wisconsin, 2002: It’s just another nowhere town, but Bethany has finally found some stability here, far from the baleful, watching eyes of her oppressively disapproving mother. Jeordie and Erik are welcoming new friends, and even Anna seems happy to make her feel at home, despite hints of issues even bigger than hers. Amid the placid, scenic small-town beauty, the teens of Rigsby are roiling with struggles over what might come next, where to turn, and what’s standing in their way. And when Bethany and Anna decide to go to the Homecoming dance together, the threads start to unravel.
Spike Trotman’s Iron Circus Comics has launched a BackerKit campaign to publish the first ever, highly anticipated print edition of the cartoonist S.E. Case’s webcomic hit series Rigsby WI. The funny, naturalistic graphic novel series chronicles the lives of a group of average teenagers in a small city in Northern Wisconsin. It’s a series about growing up and the things that shape us, including relationships, poverty, race and sexuality, and how we choose to present ourselves to our friends, family, and the rest of the world. The BackerKit for the first book, a 120 page graphic novel titled Rigsby WI: Foothold is now live.
Sometimes as a teen in a small town, you can feel trapped — trapped enough to want to gnaw off your own leg to escape. Bethany has gotten some much needed stability in Rigsby, WI — she’s away from her oppressively disapproving mother, and the other local teens Jeordie, Erik, and Anna have welcomed her in — and together the four of them know how to escape from the world that is closing in on them. While Case’s vibrant art and naturalistic writing doesn’t shy away from the rougher experiences and feelings of teens, it also covers the truly important topics like, “is Phish a good band?”, “is the neck the dong of the torso?” and “Ernest Hemingway: Was he a piece of shit?” Nostalgic, sweet, bitter and funny all at once, Rigsby WI feels like a teenage afternoon spent with friends, with all the pathos, boredom and absurdity inherent therein.
