''Wayward'' is a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series written by

Jim Zub Jim Zubkavich, known professionally as Jim Zub, is a Canadian comic book writer, artist, and art instructor best known for creating comics ''Skullkickers'' (2010), '' Wayward'' (2014), ''and Glitterbomb'' (2016) for Image Comics, and writing on ...

, drawn by

Steven Cummings Steven Cummings is an American comic book artist. Biography Presented his first professional work by DC Comics editor Bob Schreck, Steven Cummings penciled an unpublished inventory issue of Green Lantern featuring John Stewart. This work opene ...

colored ''Colored'' (or ''coloured'') is a racial descriptor historically used in the United States during the Jim Crow Era to refer to an African American. In many places, it may be considered a slur, though it has taken on a special meaning in Sout ...

by Tamra Bonvillain, with flats by Ludwig Olimba, and

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

by Marshall Dillon. Its publication, by Image Comics, began in 2014 and ended in 2018.

Publication history

Image Comics announced that Wayward would be released in August 2014. Often pitched as the modern Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Wayward was initially successful enough to warrant a reprint of both the first and second issues. Issue 30 has been confirmed to be the final issue.

Plot

Rori Lane, a young woman, moves to Tokyo from Ireland where she starts school and tries to establish herself and re-connect with her mother. She is quickly caught up in supernatural events, forming alliances and trying to defend herself and her loved ones from mythical monsters.

Characters

;Ayane:A "cat girl" formed from the spirit energy of a group of stray Japanese cats. ;Inaba Kami: A kitsune ronin warrior who prefers to stay in her human form. ;Nikaido Kazuaki: A homeless teen boy who absorbs emotional energy and can release it in waves of calm or destruction. ;Ohara Emi: A teen girl who can control and manipulate man made objects/materials. ;Rori Lane: The protagonist of Wayward. A half Japanese, half Irish teenager with the power to see and manipulate 'threads' of power and destiny. ;Segawa Touru: A teen boy hacker who can control electronic networks and machines with his mind. ;Shirai Tomohiro: A teen boy who eats spirits to survive and augment his abilities.

Reception

''Wayward'' was overall a well-reviewed title with an average rating of 8.7/10 from 215 critic reviews over its 30-issue span.

In other media

The American

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...

company IDW Games announced on May 18, 2017, that they were collaborating with Wayward author

on a board game modeled after the comic book. The game is to be fully cooperative, with players assuming the roles of the comic's heroes fighting to defeat villains controlled by the game.

Jon Gilmour Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned".United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

company

Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...

in order to develop a Japanese

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

series.Ahern, Sarah
"''Wayward'' Comic Series Optioned for TV by Manga Entertainment"
''

Variety (magazine) ''Variety'' is an American media company owned by Penske Media Corporation. The company was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933 it added ''Daily Variety'', base ...

'', Retrieved 13 June 2017.

Collected editions

References

{{reflist

External links

Wayward
at Image Comics
Wayward
at

Comic Vine Whiskey Media was an American online media company founded independently by ''CNET'' co-founder Shelby Bonnie in 2008. It was the parent company of Tested, Screened, and Anime Vice, and the former parent company of ''Giant Bomb'' and Comic Vine. W ...

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Comics by Jim Zub Image Comics titles 2014 comics debuts Comics publications Yōkai in popular culture Fantasy comics