Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Marvel's Spider-Man Secret Lair promotional image

    Get a Look At the Secret Lair x Marvel’s Spider-Man Superdrop

    09/08/2025
    Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions gameplay still

    Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions Is All About Adventure (with Friends)

    09/08/2025
    Chord in Persona 5 The Phantom X

    Now Is The Perfect Time To Jump Back In ‘Persona 5: The Phantom X’

    09/05/2025
    Cosmic Spider-Man card details

    [EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW] The Spider-Man Set Gets A 5-Color Legendary Spider

    09/02/2025
    Lee Corso from College Football GameDay in EA Sports games

    EA Sports Always Understood Lee Corso’s Legacy

    09/01/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » Oni-Lion Forge » REVIEW: ‘One Line’

REVIEW: ‘One Line’

Charles HartfordBy Charles Hartford07/17/20213 Mins ReadUpdated:03/28/2024
One Line - But Why Tho
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

One Line is published by Oni-Lion Forge and is written and drawn by Ray Fawkes. Humanity is an intricate tapestry of individuals whose lives grow, intermingle, break, and inevitably end. Where one generation can lead another, the paths it can repeat, or the new places it can discover are both impossible to predict, while at the same time feeling completely inevitable. It is in these complex yet simple narratives that author Fawkes weaves his tale of life.

I’ve heard the phrase simple elegance used many times in my life, but I don’t think it was ever more aptly applied than to One Line. For while the narratives that unfold through the book’s nearly 200 pages are some of the most basic I’ve read, the way Fawkes interweaves the stories is as sublime as it is unique. Not only do the disparent threads of the many lives the book follows come directly into contact in some places, but Fawkes manages to weave a stream of consciousness through the book that joins the plethora of stories together in a way that must be read to believe.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

One Line’s unique narrative approach begins with the organization of the book. With each page broken into the iconic three-by-three comic panel grid, Fawkes uses each panel in two-page rotations to tell a unique story. This initially gives the book 18 stories in total. With all these stories running in a two-page rotation, it can sometimes get a little difficult to remember exactly which story is happening at any given time. This is particularly true as the author periodically brings the stories together through shared moments or similar experiences like the outbreak of war or the birth of children. Or, in the most universal of all story elements, the end of the tale.

It is Fawkes’s approach to life’s finality that is most striking in One Line. When the lives of one of the focal characters end, and there is no offspring to continue the tale, the associated panel remains black for the remainder of the book. As the reader progresses, and lives are taken, lost, or snuffed out through circumstances, the pages become increasingly black. The feeling of emptiness grows as the book marches to its own inevitable conclusion. However, I will not speculate on exactly what that conclusion offers the reader here.

Fawkes’s artistic approach is one that’s simplicity and elegance flows beautifully with the story crafted by the creative’s words. Joy, sorrow, hope, despair, and all the other things that make up life pass through these panels in the lovely black and white line art.

Summing up a story like One Line is not an easy thing to do. It is simplistic in its approach and yet nuanced in its narrative. It reads almost like a poem, as the narrative weaves its way through the various lives it depicts. Each story having its own unique cadence, while simultaneously harmonizing with the rest of the lives that exist around them. Some stories are referred to as “slice of life” tales. Here, Fawkes serves us the entire pie in all its messy, beautiful, depressing, and hopeful glory.

One Line is available July 21st wherever comics are sold.

One Line
5

TL;DR

Summing up a story like One Line is not an easy thing to do. It is simplistic in its approach, and yet nuanced in its narrative. It reads almost like a poem, as the narrative weaves its way through the various lives it depicts. Each story having its own unique cadence, while simultaneously harmonizing with the rest of the lives that exist around them—in all their messy, beautiful, depressing, and hopeful glory.

  • Read now via ComiXology

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ Season 2, Episode 10 – “The Transformation”
Next Article PS4/Switch – ConnecTank – Mesmeric Action puzzler Experience
Charles Hartford
  • X (Twitter)

Lifelong geek who enjoys comics, video games, movies, reading and board games . Over the past year I’ve taken a more active interest in artistic pursuits including digital painting, and now writing. I look forward to growing as a writer and bettering my craft in my time here!

Related Posts

Midnight Radio

REVIEW: ‘Midnight Radio’ Delivers An Emotional and Hopeful Tale

12/10/2024
My Life Among Humans

REVIEW: ‘My Life Among Humans’ Explores The Complexity Of Life

02/08/2023
Dega

REVIEW: ‘Dega’

01/10/2023
Issunboshi

REVIEW: ‘Issunboshi’ Delivers A Fantasy-Filled Hero’s Journey

10/27/2022
Talli Daughter of the Moon Volume 1 But Why Tho

ADVANCED REVIEW: ‘Talli: Daughter of the Moon,’ Volume 1

06/05/2022
Petrograd

REVIEW: ‘Petrograd,’ Original Graphic Novel

12/27/2021

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
The Long Walk (2025) film review promotional image
9.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘The Long Walk’ Is The Most Heartfelt And Heartbreaking Stephen King Adaptation

By Kate Sánchez09/11/2025Updated:09/11/2025

The Long Walk is a brutal watch. Equally heartfelt and heartbreaking, it’s one of the best adaptations of Stephen King’s work.

EA Sports FC Icons Match promotional image from Nexon News

2025 Icons Match Returns With Football Legends Bridging The Pitch And Video Games

By Kate Sánchez09/03/2025Updated:09/03/2025

NEXON has announced the return of the ‘2025 Icons Match,’ a live event that brings a full roster of legendary players to the pitch.

Black Women Anime — But Why Tho (9) BWT Recommends

10 Black Women in Anime That Made Me Feel Seen

By LaNeysha Campbell11/11/2023Updated:12/03/2024

Black women are some of anime’s most iconic characters, and that has a big impact on Black anime fans. Here are some of our favorites.

DanDaDan Season 2 Episode 11
8.5
Anime

REVIEW: ‘DanDaDan’ Season 2 Episode 11 – “Hey, It’s a Kaiju”

By Allyson Johnson09/11/2025

The ragtag group faces down the mysterious kaiju in the thrilling and beautifully animated DanDaDan Season 2 Episode 11.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here