Websnark: Sadly, even after all this time I always think of "Digg'um" the frog from Sugar Smacks.

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Eric: Sadly, even after all this time I always think of "Digg'um" the frog from Sugar Smacks.

(From Digger! Click on the thumbnail for full sized most current episode for free!)

I find Digger fascinating.

On the one hand, Ursula Vernon's art has always blown me away. It's always worth remembering that Vernon didn't come to comics via comics, but instead was a fine artist and illustrator who kind of segued into comics. It shows in her style, which is perhaps the most beautiful pen and ink work on the web. Vernon knows how to take black and negative space and make them into astounding pieces. There are days I swear the woman makes woodcuts which she then presses onto the internet through some kind of woodcut-internet-pressing process.

But as pretty as Digger can be, it's the story that keeps bringing me back. And the Shadowchild's story in particular is fascinating and robust, and I'm enjoying every minute of it.

The Shadowchild, you see, is an innocent. No one knows what he is or where he came from. Some think he's some kind of demon. Others don't know what to think. All Digger seems to be able to figure out is the Shadowchild means no harm and is a nice enough fellow when you get to know him, but he's major trouble because in his innocence, he can wreak havoc.

Recently, he had been causing trouble for the local tribe of hyenas. You see, the hyenas had tried to eat Digger. They failed in this, and later Digger made amends by saving the life of their chieftain. However, the shadowchild had wanted to know why eating Digger was a bad thing, but eating other animals wasn't. The extremely rule of thumb explanation was that "you don't eat things that talk."

So the shadowchild has taken to asking all the wild game if it could talk before the Hyenas could attack. Thus the Hyenas couldn't successfully hunt. Ever. The game was being scared away by an inky black hellish thing that was worried about its health and communication skills.

So how does one explain to an innocent that it's okay to trust that deer don't talk. Especially when the innocent responds "but what if just one can talk?"

As said in the strip referenced above, being good is hard. And it is, because what's good in one situation might not be good in another. The strip itself is done in pure black and white ink, but if there's one truism that's carried through, it's that the world Digger lives in is made up of shades of grey. The hyenas had attacked the temple guards (the veiled), but they also made peace with Digger. The leader of the guards, Captain Jhalm, is at best an antagonist, but he also saved the life of Murai.

It's hard to be good.

Posted by Eric Burns-White at January 8, 2007 11:47 AM

Comments

Comment from: Carina Kadow posted at January 8, 2007 12:34 PM

That's interesting. I've thought that shadowchild is essentielly failing at being good in the whole "meaning well, but doing harm" kind-of-thing, maybe because of it's undisclosed nature.

Comment from: Will "Scifantasy" Frank posted at January 8, 2007 1:03 PM

I don't read Digger. I probably should.

But your comment about "Digg'um" brings this up: have you heard of Breakfast Of The Gods?

Short form: The heroic Cap'n Crunch, aided by Tony the Tiger, fights the evil Count Chocula, who has usurped the castle of the long-lost King. You get the idea. It's new--about twenty-odd pages, comic-book style--but interesting, to say the least.

Comment from: Eric Burns posted at January 8, 2007 1:11 PM

I have seen Breakfast of the Gods.

I adore Breakfast of the Gods.

It will get mentioned here in more depth. Oh yes.

Comment from: Will "Scifantasy" Frank posted at January 8, 2007 1:18 PM

It will get mentioned here in more depth. Oh yes.

Very cool. It's a lot of fun--and I'm sure you can have a field day with the hagiography inherent in the strip.

Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at January 8, 2007 1:47 PM

At risk of overtaking the actual snark...

Why oh why has nobody before told me about Breakfast of the Gods? It's sugar-coated poetry.

Comment from: Will "Scifantasy" Frank posted at January 8, 2007 1:53 PM

Why oh why has nobody before told me about Breakfast of the Gods? It's sugar-coated poetry.

*shrug* You know how these things go. I got linked by The Weasel King, with whom I believe Eric is also familiar. I ignored the link for a week, but then I saw it somewhere else and said "why not."

It hooked me pretty fast, once I started, but based on my track record I'm pretty sure that's a function of my personality.

But I guess the answer is "nobody you read mentioned it."

Comment from: LurkerWithout posted at January 8, 2007 2:46 PM

You first saw it from His Weaselly Majesty? Odd. I'm pretty sure he got the link from me and I could have sworn I found the comic thru Snarkoleptics...

Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at January 8, 2007 2:48 PM

Will, that was a rhetorical question to express lament, not a standard question to gain info. I knew the actual reason why I didn't know of it before now.

Comment from: Will "Scifantasy" Frank posted at January 8, 2007 4:48 PM

32: Yeah, I know.

Comment from: LurkerWithout posted at January 8, 2007 6:57 PM

Shouldn't the feed have updated by now?

http://www.websnark.com/archives/2007/01/and_here_we_go.html

This is the last one that shows on the feed...

Comment from: Will "Scifantasy" Frank posted at January 8, 2007 6:58 PM

Lurker: It has updated; at least, my feedreader shows this article.

Comment from: Cornan posted at January 8, 2007 9:17 PM

Well, I use the built in Live Bookmarks for Firefox (which used to work just fine) but now it's not working. And when I deleted the bookmark and tried to use the subscribe function in the browser the Subscribe Now button on the xml page doesn't seem to do anything at all.

This may well be on my end somehow, but I haven't figured it out. :(

Comment from: Paul Gadzikowski posted at January 9, 2007 4:53 AM

I read Digger too, and twice on Saturdays (literally; I get to read Thursday's again on Saturday just cuz of the way my links are set up). But let me just join in on the thread hijack by noting it's sad to see the sorry pass Sugar Bear has come to, where he won't join in the good fight; but anyone who's been watching cereal ads since the 70s (especially who remember Linus the Lionhearted) know that it's not Jones but Jones' most recent sources who's responsible for the deterioration of the character.

Comment from: LurkerWithout posted at January 9, 2007 5:37 AM

It might just be the LJ feed I suppose and others are working fine...

Comment from: Rehn D posted at January 10, 2007 5:14 PM

Shadowchild is a wonderful character in a comic full of wonderful things. The dilemas that Digger faces in trying to instruct it in right and wrong are so much like what real parents face. Er...that is if their kids were vastly more powerful than they were....

Oh, and slightly related, I loved the image of the feral wombat baby being raised by moles from a few weeks back.

Websnark

Besides, the box comes with Ravage.