Few comics have been as universally praised as the first volume of Owly, a delightful, silent all-ages comic that really was one of the cutest things ever published. The second volume of Owly is more of the same, a terrific, sweet and completely un-ironic paean to the virtues of being nice to other people. It's the kind of thing that ninety-nine out of a hundred creators would screw up, making it saccharine, boring, preachy or all three, but Runton is a rare find, a creator who can craft this kind of simple message based on the Golden Rule that also has moments of real humor and shows off an exceptional level of cartooning skill. Just A Little Blue will in fact leave readers anything but blue, and if there's a comic out there that leave you whistling a happy tune, Owly is it.
The previous volume of Owly featured several stories introducing Owly and some of his friends, but this one is focused entirely on one story, as Owly and his friend Wormy run afoul of a cranky bird and his family. It seems simple and maybe even ridiculous that a 125 page graphic novel could be achieved out of a premise as simple as building a birdhouse for a family of birds, but Runton turns this simple task into an epic chore, as Owly and Wormy have to struggle with giving up some of their own comforts for a group of strangers, with distrust and outright hostility from people they're trying to help and all of the other universal problems and pitfalls of charity. Runton's pacing is perfect, making good use of panel-to-panel storytelling to communicate despite the lack of actual words, but also opening up for some full page pictures that speak volumes about a particular moment.
There is a tendency in books that extol the virtues of being good to go one way or the other in their message. The one most often sent these days is that being good is a mug's game, that it gains you points for nobility but that the villains often win the day by being meaner or more selfish. The other one, and it's just as dangerous, is in wanting to present being good as so noble and perfect that the challenges faced are weak and unbelievable, and so the whole work just comes off as pie-in-the-sky unrealistic. Owly steers neatly between these extremes, and instead presents real challenges, mostly in terms of emotional distress for the sensitive lead characters, but still resolves things in a way that makes it clear that Owly and Wormy's sacrifice and persistence will pay off.
Owly may feature animals instead of people, but it's clear that Runton has an insight into the better side of human nature. He perfectly captures the anger and doubt of the father bird, in a way where the reader can sympathize but also can't help but feel that the bird is being unnecessarily mean, if only because we know that Owly's intentions are genuine. There's also some wonderful interplay between Wormy, Owly and Flutter as they try to build the birdhouse, place the birdhouse and get the birds to make use of it. Without beating the reader over the head with it, and in such a subtle way that most kids reading will notice only on a subconscious level, Runton extols the virtues of friendship, of hard work, of persistence in trying to help others, even if they're not willing to take the help at first out of a misguided sense of pride or doubt.
Runton's talents are not limited simply to his insight into the human condition, but come through loud and clear in his artwork in the book. I have a strong respect for anyone who can so effectively use silent storytelling in comics, and Runton is really good at it, conveying mood clearly through the expressions of his characters. He also makes use of a clever device, the pictorial thought and word balloon, to express dialogue or internal monologue without breaking the wordless style that Owly uses. This silent approach, lacking in any specific dialogue, allows the book to read in terms of emotion and mood instead of more logical words and fully expressed thoughts, and I think that this as much as anything else is what makes Owly a deeper, more effective read than a lot of comics aimed at younger readers.
Whether you have kids, you're a kid at heart or you just love good comics, Owly is worth a look, and the second volume only serves to back up and reinforce that it's worth all the praise it's been getting. Oh, and it's worth mentioning that Top Shelf's Free Comic Book Day offering this upcoming weekend is a new Owly story, so if you're looking for a good sampler, you couldn't do much better. 10/10
