October 20, 2009 Literary Arts

Breaking the fourth wall

Web comic creator opens up shop in Pointe-Claire

by Mireille Tarcha

Ryan Sohmer poses in front of his book My Will Be Done at The 4th Wall in Pointe Claire.PHOTO MIRIELLE TARCHA

Breaking the fourth wall between character and audience member can be an annoying and intrusive literary device when not executed correctly. But one comic writer is genuinely and truly breaking the fourth wall of the web by opening his own comic shop in Pointe-Claire.

Ryan Sohmer, a former Concordia history student who now runs a successful business as creator and writer of the hugely-popular online comic Least I Could Do, opened The 4th Wall to business on Oct. 16.

“It’s not like other comic shops where it looks like you’re in someone’s basement,” said Sohmer, for whom the The 4th Wall has been a labour of love.

After seven years of building a loyal audience on the web with LICD, written by Sohmer and drawn by artist Lar deSouza, he said he wanted to give his online readers somewhere to “sit, talk and have Red Bull.” The comic’s readers should know of protagonist Rayne’s fondness for the non-alcoholic beverage.

Sohmer wanted to name the store after a comic book term, rather than make an obvious link to his own comic by naming it after one of his characters. “Rayne’s Comics” would have been too much of a cliché, he said.

The webcomic’s title emerged from an irate phone conversation Sohmer had with a close friend. Chastising him for only calling every other month, Sohmer replied, “It’s the least I could do.”

Thus the name of a breakout hit was born.

Like shopping for books on Amazon, customers can create an online shopping cart or “pull list” of their purchases, and then visit The 4th Wall to collect their comics. Of course, you can always just show up and pull something off the shelf.

“LICD comics will be taking a very limited amount of space in the store,” said Sohmer, who claims it contains one of the largest selections of graphic novels in Montreal.
What Sohmer said he enjoys most about the business of being in comics is the creation process itself.

“I love creating and making something out of nothing at all,” he said, explaining that he felt honoured by the community that supports and reads his work.

The 4th Wall can be found at 940 St-Jean Blvd. in Pointe Claire. Orders can be placed at www.the4thwall.ca. You can read Least I Could Do online at leasticoulddo.com.