CR Review: What Birds Know



Creators: Emelie Friberg, Mattias Thorelli
Publishing Information: Hallon Press, webcomics serial, approximately 170 pages to date, free
Ordering Information:

I think what most people will take away from Emelie Friberg and Mattias Thorelli's What Birds Know is a level of craft that one doesn't tend to see a lot of on-line, at least without making a point of tracking it down. In fact, the high degree of competency in the art work almost makes it invisible in a way; it's clear what everything should be from the drawing, there's enough variation in how things are presented to keep a level of visual interest in terms of page structure and design, and there are appealing if fairly obvious effects of shading according to light source that reassures those of us who want those things in certain types of entertainment, particularly entertainment that works out of an almost generic Disney/manga design. If there's anything that's a half-step behind the rest of the artwork it is the design, which not only fails to impress when showing the pastoral baseline world in which we're immersed, but thus far doesn't quite invest the spookier moments with a greater or different element of visual punch.

It may just be getting there on its own terms. What Birds Know is so leisurely paced when compared to most modern entertainment it's almost jarring. The closest experience to the early scenes isn't another fantasy comic but those videogames where characters maintain crops, trade goods and collect items in their home. The story almost peeks out rather than slams its fist on the desk. We meet three girls from a village and watch them prepare for a trip to collect mushrooms, something they look forward to in multiple ways: for itself, as a break from the tedium of school and day to day life, and a chance to do something together. The basic structure of the book, at least so far, mirrors that journey and the difficulties the girls experience along the way. A couple of the story's most appealing aspects come out of the pacing and sturdy structure. The cartoonists take the time to establish the appeal of its characters and the setting in a more classic fantasy fashion than a lot of works that assume a knowledge of those tropes and attempt to riff on them. Home is here. The adventure is right over there. The appeal is a different world than one's own, but that doesn't mean the original world is unlovely or unsatisfying. The key suggests a connection between a personal and public past, perhaps not always examined, and how that has an effect on the right now and one's future. These are simple pleasures, but the way they're presented here they're at least believably sumptuous ones.

A lot more than usual depends on the future development of the story, how the classic fantasy elements are further brought to bear, whether we're at a one-half, one-third or one-tenth point in getting the entire tale, where the story goes in terms of theme and ultimate resolution. That may be the disadvantage of working in a classic mode: you get points for your ability to pull it off, to make something of a baseline quality, but it puts a lot more pressure on the elements that will eventually distinguish the work than you might see with a story idiosyncratically told from the start. There's a fine line between a stylish performance and an empty suit. One could only guess how it's going to to turn out here, both the narrative and the overall quality of the effort. Even 172 pages in it's impossible to see the ending to What Birds Know, which is a positive, or figure out if the story ends 10 pages from now or 500. We may not even have a finer appreciation for what's at risk quite yet. A lot of creative choices between now and "The End" will determine even how the material we've experienced thus far should be viewed.

One hopes for more sequences like one in which the tension is sent soaring through the roof due to the agitated actions of creatures we had until that point seen only in repose, not only effective in itself but something that uses the laconic rhythms of the story to date to its advantage. I'm a bit more worried about the creepier elements introduced and where that's going, in terms of it being the element that ends up distinguishing the wider story and in the cartoonists' ability to handle it as effectively as they gave us the set-up. That's not necessarily a bad worry to have at this point, but if there were thoroughbreds-style betting on narratives I'm not sure I'd be comfortable laying money on this one's resolution. I also have to admit I wish the story were done, and that it's not something I particularly want to read in parceled bits. In the end, I may walk away for a while, with a promise to return to see how things worked out.


 
posted 11:00 am PST | Permalink
 

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