Two Webcomics: A Redtail's Dream and Anu-Anulan & Yir's Daughter

Today I'm going to do something a little different and review two webcomics that I recently finished. Both are complete stories that combine fantasy and mythology in a unique way, with gorgeous artwork.

A Redtail's Dream

Minna Sundberg

Finnish and English

Completed, 2011-2013

556 pages, fantasy, boy and his dog

When the residents of a village in rural Finland are accidentally sent into the Realm of Dreams (by the Puppy-fox Spirit, who is left in charge while his elders have a meeting), the loner Hannu and his friendly dog Ville must perform tasks to release their friends and neighbors. 

The story is broken into chapters. In each one, Hannu and Ville find themselves in a different part of the realm of dreams, where they must complete a random task to convince the main villager in that area to return home (and take the others with them). Each main villager is accompanied by an ancient animal spirit; Ville, to his delight and sometimes dismay, takes the same form as the animal spirit while they are there. Hence you have a dog that becomes everything from a squirrel to a moose to a seal. 

And did I mention that Ville can talk?

According to everything I have read, this tale draws heavily on Finnish mythology. Puppy-fox is a classic trickster character, Hannu and Ville's tasks feel like something from a folktale, and so on. However, I was unable to find a detailed breakdown of the mythological elements of this work online. Perhaps it is so close to the original tales that it isn't worth analyzing? I would love to read an in-depth article on the similarities and differences to the myths. 

Most importantly, the art of this webcomic is absolutely stunning. It is well worth reading just for the beauty of it. 

Further Reading: 

"Finnish Mythology" by Molly Kalafut

Read The Kalevala from Sacred Texts

Anu-Anulan & Yir's Daughter

Emily Carroll

English

Completed, 2011

3 pages, fantasy, LGBTQIA+

In this very short comic, the goddess Anu-Anulan requests a woman (Yir's daughter)'s bright, silvery hair. But after she receives it, she realizes something is missing. 

I am not sure if Anu-Anulan is based on any particular deity. Rather, Carroll uses mythlike storytelling to convey a very sweet tale. 

The artwork used for this story is relatively simple, but incredibly expressive. It's only three pages - go read it now! 

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Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection Vol. 1, edited by Hope Nicholson

Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection 
Volume 1
Edited by Hope Nicholson
2015
176 pages, graphic fiction, speculative

Many many thanks to Alternative History Comics for providing a review copy, and to my mom for sending it to India for my birthday! 

I have been meaning to add some graphic novels/comics to my blog for a while now (though I confess I’m a complete newbie to the genre!). When I saw this one advertised online, I knew that I had to review it. Why? Because my research area is Indigeneity, and I have been wanting to focus on Indigenous literature. So this is the first of hopefully many posts about Indigenous literature and movies, broadly defined.

Moonshot is a collection of short graphic stories, products of collaborations between indigenous writers and industry-leading illustrators. The illustrations are in a wide range of styles, and, like any anthology, the quality of the stories themselves vary to some degree - although overall this collection is a very high quality work. 

Vision Quest: Echo

Written and illustrated by David Mack, this excerpt from a Marvel superhero comic (Daredevil Vision Quest series) concerns Echo, a deaf Cherokee girl who has the power to mimic anything she sees. In this section, she remembers her childhood, illustrated in a beautiful scrapbook-like format filled with layers of the child-Echo's drawings and Indian sign language. This story is easily the most beautiful selection in this book, and made me want to track down the original comic.