Andy Runton is one of my favorite comic book artists, so I’m a bit frustrated that I’ll be out at a speaking engagement this Saturday, because it’s Free Comic Book Day and Top Shelf Comics is giving away an all-new story starring Runton’s Owly, along with the debut of Korgi, a new graphic novel series from Christian Slade. It’s a good pairing, because the writer/artists both tell stories about animals without dialogue—well, okay, Runton uses pictograms—and with that in mind, Newsarama sends a family out to interview them. “The first Owly comic ideas originally had words but I decided to leave them off and use his eyes and body language to tell the story,” Runton explains. “That was okay with me because I always loved silent characters, and it made me work harder to make sure the story was clear.”
Seriously, if you have young kids, especially at an age where you can sit and read stories with them, you should go to a comic book shop tomorrow and try to get this free comic—and pick up some of Runton’s graphic novels while you’re there, too. They really are, as one fan describes them on the Newsarama site, “the comics equivalent of a hug.”