Owly might just be the cutest comic I've read all year. Runton uses a mostly wordless style to tell the tale of Owly, a lonely but kindhearted little owl who befriends a worm and a pair of hummingbirds in a pair of stories which are sweet without being saccharine, touching without being sappy and plenty funny as well. The central messages of Owly, if something so sweet and innocent needs a message, is that you should do what you can to help others and that there is joy to be found in that simple task. A simple message, sure, but something that needs saying, especially in modern times. In addition, while Owly is by no means just for younger readers, it is perfectly suited to them, what with it's use of pictures instead of words to indicate thoughts and speech, making it easily enjoyable for the youngest of children all the way up to the oldest of adults.
When you hear "silent storytelling," what comes to mind is usually that it's either a gimmick, a foreign comic or that it's going to be very difficult to follow. Owly is a mostly silent comic, using art alone to tell its stories, but it is very approachable and new reader friendly as well as being an example of sophisticated comics storytelling. Owly and his friends express themselves through images that serve as shortcuts for their thoughts, with question marks, exclamation points and equal signs conveying the intent behind the symbols. To use a somewhat weird analogy, it is very reminiscent of the work that Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos did on Impulse, where the character thought only in images. Where Impulse's thought balloons conveyed an impulsive mindset, however, Owly's convey an innocent, almost childlike worldview.
The stories in this volume of Owly are fairly simple, as Owly tries to help his new friends out of their personal jams. He helps his worm friend find his lost parents, and he enacts a rescue mission for one of the hummingbirds. It sounds pretty light, but in fact, Runton brings a real sense of joy and forward movement to these simple plots. Owly's can-do attitude is infectious, and Runton keeps Owly both unbelievably generous and kind and yet not as obnoxious and sanctimonious as that kind of thing tends to be in real life. Runton also includes more than a little humor in these pages, such as the "kids pull off a heist" feel of Owly and Wormy breaking one of the hummingbirds out of his cage. Or you could check out the confused silhouette looking at the empty bird cage in the background for a good laugh, too.
Though the art style isn't anywhere near the same, Runton's artwork reminds me somewhat of underrated teacher/cartoonist Jay Hosler. Runton's Owly doesn't look much like any kind of real owl, with gigantic eyes and a round body, and his other animals all are much more expressive than their real-life counterparts, and yet there's definitely a nature-friendly vibe in the artwork. Runton's version of Owly's domain looks like a storybook picture of the outdoors, laden with sunshine and trees and hills, and it's a terrific setting for Owly's adventures. Words fail me in trying to convey the expertise of Runton's work while simultaneously explaining how simple and readable it is, so I'll just say that Runton is an amazing storyteller, conveying nuances that many storytellers can't manage with words and pictures, let alone mostly wordless pictures.
I can't really praise Owly highly enough, so I'll just add my voice to the many who have already talked about what an amazing book it is. I was having a really rotten day when I read it, and Owly cheered me up. I can't wait to share it with my daughter, and I would suggest that those with kids pick it up as soon as possible. Of course, I'd also suggest that those without kids pick it up as soon as possible, as it really is one of the standout projects of 2004. 10/10
