Owlgirls #1
Written by: Robert Sodaro
Art by: Rachele Aragno with Dave Ryan
Published by: Red Anvil Comics
Website: http://www.redanvilcomics.com

1940s New York. An amazing time to live in a growing city that is full of life. It’s here where we immerse ourselves into Owlgirls #1 which brings us into the lives of three sisters who investigate the mysterious and mystical. As the rest of the cast of this book is very much human these sisters are of an anthropomorphic form. Human bodies, owl faces.

One of these sisters, Magdalena, is in love with a mortician named Gebedhia. Gebedhia is quite concerned about having the sisters out on the street. They don’t look like everyone else and thusly could cause a panic. Martha, and Maggie live above the mortuary with their older sister who they seem to take their cues from.

This first issue of Owlgirls doesn’t have the sisters investigating much. Rather it’s an introduction to their time period and world. There’s not much in answers here. We don’t know why they look the way they do, why they investigate what they do, or why others would want to exploit them.  That’s the mystery of the book in that we have no idea why these sisters look like walking, talking birds. Why do they investigate the paranormal? I’m sure as the series goes on we’ll get the answers to that and more.

The book has an amazing atmosphere. The artwork is top-notch and really brings to life the world of 1940s New York especially in its first few pages where it shows the city off. The grayscaling and shading are quite amazing, giving an incredible ambiance to the book. Owlgirls is published by Red Anvil Comics which may be familiar to comic book readers as publishing War of the Independents, the massive crossover featuring hundreds of different independent characters, giving this book perhaps a bigger indie profile than most out there because of its publisher.

I asked Red Anvil’s Dave Ryan how he describes the book and why they decided to go to Kickstarter to bring this book to life. “It’s a very different kind of comic book with appeal to lovers of the 1940′s, fashion, romance and the detective genre,” Ryan said. “I’d throw a bit of sci-fi/horror in that also.”

“Rachele Aragno, my collaborating artist, is virtually unknown in the comics field so I though this would be a great way to introduce her to the public,” he added. “We have veteran writer Robert J. Sodaro weaving an amazing story. I’m very pleased with what I’ve read so far, to say the least. It’s a book that I hope fans can “sink their beaks” into.”

Those who gave to the Kickstarter will have their books soon but according to Ryan those who have any interest in the book will have to wait until early 2014 when the book will finally see print for the rest of the masses.

NEXT WEEK: We take a look at Thunderfrog’s Charitable Anthology!

Have an indie comic you’d like to see reviewed? Contact Ryan at rdmclelland@hotmail.com