Pen-Elayne on the Web

Blogathon 2003, Post #35
Pen-Elayne For Your Thoughts – LI'L RED STITCH #1 (of 5)

"Red Feather Rides Again"

Creator/Penciller: Courtney Huddleston
Story: Leslie Nichols
Colorist: Mike Garcia
Editor: Vicki Suchanek
Graphic Designer: Shannon Rasberry
Published by Summertime Comic Books

Here’s what I thought…

Warning: May Be Spoilers Ahead

Lots of confusing androgynous names, so for those of us keeping score, Huddleston and Raspberry are male and Nichols is female. That out of the way, let me just say I've found another wonderful all-ages miniseries to love. My gosh, is this one good. Nichols sets the scene for the story's genesis: "When I was a shy and painfully awkward preteen trying to brave my way through a small-town Texas existence with bad hair and a pair of prescription glasses that darkened in direct sunlight and flash photography, I discovered a book in the Idalou Elementary Library that offered my imagination a safe refuge from the childhood battlefield. The book was the biography of a woman named Cynthia Ann Parker." That book led to a love of Texas lore and mythology that's sharply evident in this story of "a female outlaw who roamed the llano armed only with her bravery and a magical sewing kit" and the little girl who learns all about her and has a destiny of her own to fulfill. It's kind of a combination of Paul Dini's and J. Bone's Sheriff Ida Red, Indian legends and just about any American tall tale you'd care to name. And it's delightful. The writing is breathtaking, and the art (influenced by animators like Mike Kunkel but, thankfully, with the construction lines erased) is clear and easy to follow even when there are no words. I actually found the telling of this story as fascinating as the story itself. The first page, a splash, has one caption; page 2 and 3 are completely devoid of balloons and captions; pages 4 through 6 only have five small balloons between 'em; then page 7 actually brings us to the present with a conversation between the protagonist and her grandmother. After that we get two pages of only captions, then six pages of gorgeous illustrations with text on the bottom… and it all works so seamlessly that, unless you're a total wonk like me, you won't even notice all the experimentation. And the final pages are heartbreakingly beautiful. I can't say enough about this book (particularly at this late hour when I'm so relatively incoherent); just seek it out at your local comic store and buy it. And as an extra bonus, colorist Garcia gives us the first 8 pages of his story "The Spackle King" in "flip-book" style (i.e., flip the book around and there's another 8-page comic). My highest recommendation.

So, what did y'all think?