The story begins with Owly and Wormy out gathering delicious apples in their cart. Just A Little Blue introduces the characters Flutter (a butterfly) and Little Blue (a young bluebird) to the Owly cast. In fact, it takes you a few minutes to realize it, he’s that deft. Special mention should be made of (and I know I’m going to mess this up) Runton’s inking of his own pencils: it’s a gorgeous, thick line that really adds contrast and character to a page without color.

Several pages of this volume contain one oversize panel, and I swear, they’re like little stand-alone art pieces, but not enough to distract from the unhurried flow of the story. Each chapter in the Owly saga is sold in a small “digest” format, similar to how you see anime sold in bookstores – high-quality, bound paperbacks that are black-and-white only (just like daily comic strips) with, again, no words or text to speak of. And of course there’re hints of Carl Barks and classic “funny animal” stuff like Peter Porkchops and other Dell/Archie fare. This leads me to believe that Owly would make absolutely excellent children’s reading, whether with parents, a storytime at school or a reading at a library, say?Īrtist/writer/creator Andy Runton has a very cartoony yet very naturalistic rendering style (mostly in terms of his depictions of the forest Owly calls home) It’s just like that of the artist I think his aesthetic is closest to: Walt Kelly of Pogo fame. Owly and Wormy are that rarest commodity in comics and, indeed popular fiction as a whole, earnest and good without your wanting to strangle them. Charles Schulz’s Peanuts springs to mind immediately, though without the melancholy fog that often settled over his more thoughtful character. The stories in Owly burst with the same openhearted innocence and purity that only a few strips have managed over time. Each episode/story is told wordlessly, with action and facial expression telling these small tales of friendship, nature and life. Owly is everything that modern Disney cartoons try (and fail) so hard to be – sweet, unpretentious, simple, direct and a celebration. Yeah, basically, I read the whole thing through blurred vision. If even my little blackened heart… I mean, two (TWO) pages into Just A Little Blue, and I was already tearing up when Owly handed his friend Wormy a juicy apple to eat and Wormy had about the sweetest smile imaginable as he took a big, joyous bite.

And if yours is among the unmoved, I don’t want to be anywhere near you, as it probably means you don’t have a soul. Only the blackest of hearts won’t be charmed by Andy Runyon’s Owly. Owly: Just a Little Blue by Andy Runton Top Shelf

Just a little blue andy runton