Owly

Yesterday I talked about how I am thinking about what makes comics, namely the use of discourse and images. Today, I am talking about a series of books that have no (or hardly any) words in them. Owly has been coming out since 2004, initially published by Top Shelf but now self-published by its creator Andy Runton.

Owly is an adorable owl, and these books chronicle his various adventures in the forest. I have not met a young child who is not instantly rapt by these stories. They are simple, almost intuitive, to read but surprisingly evocative. They are excellent for pre-primer and elementary students, though I have known middle schoolers who also like these tales.

In this first volume, there are two stories. In the first, Owly saves a worm during a rainstorm and ends up making a lifelong friend. In the second, Owly and Wormy rescue a caged hummingbird and then have to deal with loss when they learn that they really cannot take care of it and have to let it go back to the wild.

In this book, Owly builds a birdhouse for a pair of ungrateful bluebirds. Over time they start to develop a friendship, but then a bad storm threatens the lives of their newly hatched chicks, and they all learn to work together.

In the third volume Owly meets a flying squirrel, and we learn that Owly is sort of an outcast, because he cannot fly. In a flashback, we see that he had a tough and unhelpful instructor when he was a young owlet at flying camp, and his friends were also all pretty much unsupportive jerks. His new friends band together to help Owly out.

In this fourth book, a new creature ventures into this part of the woods. All the forest residents fear this new animal and make up stories about how terrible it must be. Owly finds it in himself to approach it and learn what it is really like.

By now, it is pretty clear that each of these books has its own moral, like a comic version of a fable. That feature makes these books pretty accessible, but the artwork and easily read symbolic conventions and expressions make them attractive. They really bring life to what could a dry enterprise. Just check out these couple of pages from the first book, where Owly meets Wormy:

 

Owly books have won all kinds of awards, including the Harvey and an Eisner. All of the reviews I have read of these books have been positive. Sharon Adarlo called the character and books "very charismatic and kid-friendly." Brigid Alverson praised the "deceptively simple tales of a sweet little owl and his forest friends, told without words but with plenty of emotion and gesture." Hilary Goldstein called Just a Little Blue "a fanciful, magical book deserving of a spot on anyone's bookshelf."

Runton speaks about his inspirations for and work on the Owly books in this interview.

These are only the first four Owly books, and there are more available for preview and sale here. There are also quite a few free Owly comics there to download as well.

He Done Her Wrong

Today on Not Quite a Graphic Novel Month is a blast from the past.

One of the precursors to today's graphic novels, He Done Her Wrong is an epic story, or, as subtitled, "The Great American Novel (with no words)." Published first in 1930, the book has a plot reminiscent of a silent movie, which was likely a reflection of the author's work with film star Charlie Chaplin.The story is a typical "boy meets girl, boy loses girl" tale, with lots of twists and turns. The story begins in a wilderness setting, with a hulking, heroic outdoors-man/lumberjack meeting and falling in love with a beautiful singer. They get together, but complications arise from corrupt business partners and the machinations of various villainous rich people. I do not want to spoil the ending, but after various changes of venue, fights, hijinks, ambulance rides, and finding a convenient birthmark, the story comes to a happy conclusion.

The book's creator Milt Gross was born in 1895 and started cartooning when he was just 12 years old. He produced a prodigious amount of work for the newspapers of the day, including The New York Journal and later The New York World. His strips were full of madcap escapades and immigrant humor and had titles like Banana Oil, Nize Baby, and Count Screwloose of Tooloose. He also published collections of these strips, and these volumes today are collectors' items. For those interested, there is additional biographical information about Gross on Lambiek and JVJ Publishing.

A book that has enjoyed a recent revival, He Done Her Wrong is considered a classic but also still a vital work in its own right. Lance Eaton wrote that "it could easily compete with some of today's graphic novel despite its simplistic plot." The reviewer at ComicList called the book "frenetic and wildly creative in its style." Paul Karasik wrote in appreciation of this book, "Gross uses whatever graphic device he needs to prove a point, get a giggle, or prod the plot. Nothing fancy. Nothing artsy. Just tell the story clearly, get the gag across, and go home. It's all in a day's work."

A short preview is available here from this edition's publisher, Fantagraphics.

Why it's not quite a graphic novel:  As wonderful, boisterous, and dramatic the art is, this book uses sequential art images without any dialogue or other words to propel the story. Graphic novels use a combination of words and images. I am picky, I know...