Broken Frontier

If you’d told me a few years ago that one of my favorite comics would star a talking wombat, I wouldn’t have believed you.

Okay, that’s not true. I probably would have (I’m odd like that). But if you’d also told me that it would be a rich fantasy adventure, a bitingly sarcastic satire, a meditation on myth and religion, and possessed of a quirky and beautiful black and white art style, I might have been slightly more suspicious. Yet Digger, the twice-weekly webcomic by Ursula Vernon, is all of these things and more. This past year, Vernon not only saw the release of the second print volume of Digger, she was nominated for the Eisner Award in “Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition.” As one of her loyal readers, I think this is something she richly deserves.

Digger is focused on Digger-of-Unnecessarily-Convoluted-Tunnels, a practical no-nonsense wombat who has wandered very far from home. Driven off her subterranean course by a patch of bad air, Digger emerges from a tunnel into a world not her own. Here, the land is defended by a group of theocratic police known as The Veiled, under the watchful eye of a talking statue of the elephant god Ganesh. Carnivorous hyena warriors stalk the forests. An unsettling Shadowchild seeks its true nature. Oracular slugs pronounce seemingly useless prophecies of the future. And a poor outcast hyena dubbed “Ed” lives in shame and seclusion, his true name “eaten” and lost to history.

Vernon’s series never lacks for humorous, imaginative concepts. There’s a rather subversive quality to it, particularly in her trademark footnotes that wander Douglas Adams-like on hilarious tangents. But beneath the lighthearted exterior is an intriguing plot full of mystery and epic fantasy trappings. The longer Digger remains in this strange land, the more she is drawn into a conspiracy of dead gods, masked cultists, and hyena creation myths. The comic jumps quite nimbly from the silly and absurd to the serious and portentous and back again (often within a single scene).

Chiefly responsible for keeping this balance is Digger herself. Like Tolkien’s hobbits or Jeff Smith’s Bone cousins, Digger’s sarcastic wit and anachronistic attitude keeps those around her from slipping too far into self-important fantasy-speech. She approaches her experiences with the grounded, sensible world view of an engineer, having little tolerance for magic, myth, or flowery prose. The contrast of these two worlds gives the series much of its unique brand of humor. In some ways, Digger is like Alice down the rabbit-hole, if Alice was stocky, furry, and carried a pickaxe.

Equally impressive is Vernon’s approach to myth and religion. In Captain Jhalm and The Veiled, we see the overly zealous fanatical side of organized religion and the dangers this can pose. The wisdom and charity of Ganesh displays the more humble and profound side of faith. The creation story of the tribal hyena culture (exquisitely rendered in the style of cave paintings) showcases the simpler, more primal form of religion. And the vignette of the Black Mother and the Good Man (oddly enough, adapted from an actual folk belief of immigrant children in Miami) shows us the constantly evolving nature of our myths. This ongoing theme lends the story more gravitas than a comic about  a talking wombat logically ought to have.

But wait, my children, there’s more! The series looks fabulous as well. Vernon’s sketchy yet elegant art style is difficult to define. The linework seems somewhere between a comic strip, a children’s book, and a textured medieval wood carving. There’s a dash of Brian Froud in Vernon’s rendering of the human characters, all wide-faced, big-nosed, and beady-eyed types. Beyond this, her artwork remains fiercely individualistic and gives the series a look all its own.

I want to tell you more, to pontificate on the metaphorical pigeons, the vampiric squash, or the rather youthful village hag, but the best thing I can tell you is to read the book. Digger is, quite simply, a comic that’s filled with humor and drama and heart. Oh, and wombats of course. Really, what more could you ask for?

The Digger webcomic, updated every Tuesday and Thursday, is located at  graphicsmash.com. The print version of Digger Volume One and Two can be purchased  here.