Digger

As an avid comic-reader, one of the things I love the most about the internet is the sheer amount of comics available on it, that one can read for free. Granted, there's a lot of crap out there, but also several gems: Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Sidell, Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton, The Desert Peach by Donna Barr (which wasn't originally a webcomic, but since its creator has put it online, I've decided to include it here), among others. That said, if I had to choose my favorite webcomic, I'd have to go with Digger by Ursula Vernon, and since I recently re-read the whole thing, I figured it would be a good subject for my latest review.

So, what's Digger about? Well, its about our titular heroine, Digger-of-Unnecessarily-Convoluted- Tunnels of Clan Quartzclaw, or Digger for short; a wombat, who one day finds herself stranded in a far-away valley, populated by a variety of creatures. Digger only wants to find a way back home, but of course, she soon find herself mixed up in the local problems. Problems which are far older and greater than she could imagine...

The first thing about Digger that deserves mentioning is the world-building: The setting created by Ursula Vernon is a rich and varied one filled with all manners of creatures. The various factions that inhabit the world of Digger are well-fleshed out, from  the guardians of the temple of Ganesha, to the matriarchal hyena-tribe; their culture, beliefs and mythology are all revealed to the reader as the plot of the comic grows deeper.

On the character-side, Digger's down-to-earth personality, her sarcasm and her sense of compassion and responsibility makes her a very likable heroine whom its easy to root for. She's surrounded by a strong cast of supporting characters, each one memorable in their own way. I feel that out of all characters, Ed deserves a special mention though. Ed is a male hyena who Digger encounters early in the comic and while according to Vernon herself, he was originally only intended to be a monster that tried to eat Digger, but he ended up being the most fleshed-out (and also universally beloved) member of the entire cast.

On the artistic side of things, Digger is drawn in very appealing black-and-white art. The comic that most came to mind when I was reading Digger was Bone by Jeff Smith (speaking of which, I really should pick up that omnibus which collects all of Bone in a single volume one of these days). However, Vernon varies her art-style from time to time. For example; one character's back-story is drawn in a style similar to cave-paintings and so on.

Digger can be found here and I strongly advise anyone with a working internet connection to read it; its a great story  populated with a vast array of memorable characters, plus it dispenses valuable advise. For example:

Words to live by. Until next time, dear reader.