Karl Kerschl‘sThe Abominable Charles Christopheris another entry in the subgenre of man impinge upon nature , but do n’t countenance that dash you off . After all , it features gorgeous illustrations , windy humor , and a yeti protagonist .
For many webcomics creators , their first webcomic is also their first raid into comics publishing . But Karl Kerschl is already a funnies veteran , having worked for DC on Superman , The Flash , and Teen Titans . InThe Abominable Charles Christopher , Kerschl trades cities and superheroes for woodland and the Missing Link .
The attractively rendered animals of Kerschl ’s forest have top , up to this point , a middling idyllic existence . shuttlecock , bee , rabbit , and weasel all break wise , have party , and evoke family line . But Vivol , who still bears the emotional scars of his past as a circus bear , senses that life in the forest is experiencing a deadly switch . Humans , who once cling in the main to the outskirts of the wood , have begin to entrench deeper into the timber , their mien evidenced by toothy bear ambuscade and the occasional blare of gunfire .
It ’s into this worldly concern that our dimwitted yeti protagonist , Charles Christopher , stumbles . In a forest filled with chattering and often witty critters , Charles stand out in his quiet . He travels wherever the forest ’s more supernatural dweller — a bear made of moonlight , a seemingly omniscient lion — labour him , nurse on a pacifier and nibble up the periodic traveling companion .
Charles is neither man nor beast , and so is put on a quest that will halt human advance into the forest . But The Abominable Charles Christopher is a delight more for its air than for its slowly unfolding secret plan . Kerschl neatly balance realistic illustrations with animated cartoon expressions , creating beast that are visually arresting and at the same time easy to relate to . And the characters feel immediately real , conveying entire personality and story with a bit of bluster or a narrowing of the eyes . The interactions are humorous , almost human , while make on the unique qualities of the animals — the first flight of baby hiss , the poisonous quality of toads , and a bumble bee ’s pauperization to trip the light fantastic toe . This focus on the joys and bodily fluid of casual lifespan — and on characters who are earnest and naive — make it all the more heart - wrenching when tragedy eventually strikes ( The Abominable Charles Christopher is one of the few comedian in recent memory that has in reality made me cry ) .
And the way Kerschl deals with the portrait of humans adds to the emotional wallop of the comedian . surely story of humans disrupting the tranquility of timber biography is nothing new , but Kerschl does a brainy line of work of give humans the mysterious “ other ” rather than a radical of mindless , brutish monsters . In fact , humans are never check on panel . We see evidence of their presence , like the gun muzzle of a triggerman peeking through the brushwood , and we take heed their voices in Vivol ’s flashbacks to circus living , but we never see their boldness or bodies . It makes humans not so much nefarious as a potent scourge the fun - do it animals are not prepared to face — almost more mystical and more muscular than the genuine mystic creatures we run across . It also builds up our anticipation for the moment when Charles will inevitably meet an existent human being and see if their lives are as rich as those of the animals he has befriended .
The Abominable Charles Christopher updates once a calendar week , making its archive a spry read by webcomic standards , but also save readers in months - long stretches of suspense .
[ The Abominable Charles Christopher ]
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