The Future of Comics: Paranatural and A Redtail's Dream

As a art student who was largely introduced to illustration and sequential art through sites like DeviantArt as a 12 year old, of course I've read my share of webcomics. For this week, I revisited a few I was fond of back then and will probably be continuing to read! The first ongoing title (which I'm not caught up in) that I followed in middle school was Paranatural, written by Zach Morrison, who during this comic's start was just a college student doing this in his free time. Paranatural follows a boy in middle school who moves to a peculiar new town and is quickly noticed by the weird kids at his school, eventually beinf wrapped up in a ghost-hunting whirlwhind of a club. The kids have objects possessed by friendly but powerful spirits which they use to protect the status-quo and uncover secrets. Since it is an ongoing comic, Morrison's art has vastly improved in quality over the years; the first chapter or so doesn't use color, but it goes on to become more and more grandiose without ever losing the charming, snarky spirit of the story.

As a kid, I think I latched onto this comic because I related to the protagonist Max, having just moved to a new place and meeting new people. Now, what I find most enjoyable is the range in character design, facial expression, and of course, all the sick monsters. I could easily see Paranatural adapted into a cartoon show; it seems like a predecessor to shows like Gravity Falls in which young kids battle weird, funny-looking cryptids and everything leads up to a much more epic plot.

Another title which I was fond of in middle school/early high school is A Redtail's Dream, which is based off of Finnish folklore/mythology and follows a rather apathetic protagonist and his eager-to-please pet dog, who is transformed into a new animal with each chapter. Trapped in a pocket dimension by the mistake of a young fox deity, they work together to save the residents of their village and get themselves out of a tiring, magical cycle. I loved this work when I was younger, though now when I look back on it, the story isn't all that compelling. There are several chapters, but each one follows the same format and it quickly becomes monotonous. Regardless, its never stopped being beautiful to look at, and the dog character is endearing enough on his own.

The artist, Minna Sundberg, is a Finnish/Swedish woman born in Sweden who moved to Finland early in life and started A Redtail's Dream in late 2011 as a practice comic whilst in university. She planned for it to run for 150 pages, and it wound up being over 550 by the time it ended in 2013. I haven't finished this comic, but over the past week or so I've been rereading it. The artists' pride for her culture and rick folklore is evident in this comic, which is why I keep reading it, because it feels like a love letter for Finland and its fauna. Each illustration of an animal is beautifully and skillfully rendered, as are the pink, orange and blue hues of the snowy landscapes. Reading this makes me want to visit a remote Finnish village!