Wandering Onesby Layla LawlorReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 8 There are a lot of web comics out there in cyberspace (understatement of the year) but not a lot of variety. The vast majority fall into one of two categories: comics about geeks and computers, or comics drawn in a pseudo-anime style. This isn't surprising since there are a disproportionate number of computer geeks and anime fans in the online community. Still, sometimes there is a desperate need for fresh blood, something a little different.That's why Wandering Ones is such a treat. Wandering Ones is a throwback to the old-style newspaper strip comics — especially Prince Valiant. As someone who used to clip and save the Prince Valiant strips when I was a kid, I wasn't at all surprised to discover that Clint Hollingsworth is an admirer of Hal Foster's work. He's certainly got his own style, but there is something very reminiscent of those older strips in his work: the story pacing; the blend of adventure and light humor; the realistic art with attention to detail. Wandering Ones is also that rarity, a comic for grown-ups that doesn't feel the need to flaunt its "adultness" with blood, gore and profanity. There's nothing in here that would be inappropriate in a family newspaper. At the same time, Wandering Ones is no shallow kids' fare. The story takes place years after the Earth's population was decimated by a plague unleashed by a doomsday religious cult. Now the survivors on the North American continent fall into two camps: the fascist "Reich", which is slowly spreading its dominion across the region formerly known as the United States; and everybody else — an eclectic mix of survivalists, motorcycle gangs, martial artists, Native American tribes, and small governments trying to rebuild their vanished civilization. Some (such as the Western Alliance, the primary "technological" society on the West Coast) are actively opposing the Reich, while others are merely living as noncombatants. The story follows the adventures of one of the Reich's most ardent opponents: Ravenwing, a scout of the Clan of the Hawk, who follows a lifestyle and life philosophy patterned largely after that of the Native American tribes — live simply, do no unnecessary harm to nature or to others, etc. Ravenwing's skill at wilderness survival has led the Western Alliance to ask her to train some of their young people, in order to give them an advantage against the better-armed and more numerous soldiers of the Reich. At the start of the story, Ravenwing takes off into the wilderness with six recruits, three from the Alliance and three of her own people. Nothing ever stays simple, and between wild animals, forces of nature, dangerous (and crazy) wilderness dwellers, and wandering groups of Reich soldiers, the new recruits soon find that their lessons will be learned mainly through the act of survival. Along the way, the group stumbles into an unwanted confrontation with one Reich survey unit that ends in the addition of another member to their band of scouts-in-training: Max, a Reich conscript. Apparently the lower ranks of the Reich army are kept full of cannon fodder by press gangs who draft young men from the Reich-controlled parts of the continent. Max is one of these, and considering the lousy treatment he receives in the Reich army (the conscripts are the lowest of the low) it isn't surprising that he jumps at the chance to desert. Despite the others' distrust of him, Max turns out to be a valued addition to the team; a decent guy, and quite smart despite his lack of education and "hick" speech mannerisms, he turns out to be an apt pupil and eagerly embraces Ravenwing's do-no-harm philosophy of life. (Max's down-to-earth sense of humor is also a welcome addition, injecting a bit of levity into otherwise serious proceedings.) One of my favorite aspects of Wandering Ones is that as well as entertaining, it's educational, too. I'll often finish a prose book feeling like I picked up some new bits of knowledge along the way, but I don't get that feeling from too many comics. Wandering Ones is steeped in wilderness survival lore. As the recruits learn how to track animals, build emergency shelters, find food and water, and so on, you get to pick it up along with them. Some of the strips include footnotes referencing books and websites so that interested readers can learn more. If that doesn't interest you, then you can skip those parts and just enjoy the story. The strip does have a few problems. I sometimes find it a bit too blatant and heavy-handed with its environmental/New Age-y theme: Nature good. Native Americans good. Reich bad. Okay, I get it, I get it. Even though I'm happy to root against the Reich along with the main characters, I would like to see a slightly more even-handed treatment of the conflict. I also had some trouble relating to the characters in the early parts of the story; even Ravenwing, the main character, seemed a bit flat and lacking in personality, and the other characters took awhile to start showing individuality. These flaws do start to fade as the strip goes along and Clint gets more familiar with his characters and their world. New readers are recommended to start at the beginning and go from there; with two years of archives, there's a lot of backstory that will make the current story arc make a lot more sense, trust me. One thing you don't have to worry about with this strip is checking back for weeks on end without an update. A regular update schedule is one of the biggest things that'll sell me on a web comic, and Wandering Ones is updated every weekday, regular as clockwork. (When Clint absolutely has to take a vacation for his sanity, you'll get fun sketchbook pieces and behind-the-scenes notes; there will still be new art to view.) So go look at it now. Even if adventure comics and wilderness survival aren't your cup of tea, Wandering Ones is different enough from the general pack of web comics to warrant giving it a try. Written: May 18, 2002
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