Broken Frontier

With the first volume of Owly, Andy Runton sent shockwaves throughout the entire industry. This book might be even better.

The kind yet lonely Owly and his pal Wormy return in this volume. Owly desires nothing more than to help a pair of bluebirds, but those birds hold such a fear of owls that they shun poor Owly. Owly, still, is persistent in his quest to help these birds, even at a great sacrifice. Soon, though, a great tragedy strikes the bluebird family. Will they accept Owly=s help?

Andy Runton is an absolutely incredible storytelling talent. Every aspect of this story seems to fall right into place. As with the previous volume of Owly, Runton does an amazing job of tying Owly=s feelings in with universal emotions. His story here says volumes about personal sacrifice and, as always, friendship. Runton never uses words in his stories, but his characters do occasionally Aspeak@ in pictures. In this book, Runton uses that tool to its fullest extent. Often overlooked is Runton=s meshing of ornithology with his stories, but that element holds just as much importance as any aspect of this tale. All the little things add up to a truly sweet and poignant tale that left me misty-eyed. Runton=s story will strike a chord with any reader.

Considering the aforementioned absence of words in Owly, the majority of the storytelling burden lies with Runton=s art. Runton is up to that task without a doubt. Using, amongst other things, Owly=s enormous eyes, Runton gives his characters the absolute perfect facial expressions. Further, his art sets the exactly right atmosphere. When Owly realizes the cost of his sacrifice, the look on his face was so powerful. All readers simply must feel the raw emotion to be found here. Andy Runton has a suitably cute art style, but he also excels at storytelling. His art is clean and crisp at all times. His panel set-ups always work nicely, with the one-panel pages always delivering their intended additional power. Andy Runton tells a story with his art as well as anyone in the industry.

Much has been made about the fact that Owly is an Aall-ages book.@ Well, yes, it is. Runton does an impressive job of making this book enjoyable to all readers. Everyone from the smallest of children to the largest of grown adults can and do enjoy this book.

Everyone feels what Owly feels. Andy Runton makes sure of that. Twice in a row, he has brought me to tears, and, then, left me with a smile on my face by the end of the story. I cannot put into words how much joy this book has brought me. Truly one of the beacons of hope in this industry, Owly has the power to resonate with everyone.

-Eliot Johnson