Reviews and Fan Mail
Publisher
Fiery Studios
www.vogelein.com
Credits
Creators: Jane Irwin
Grade: 9
Vögelein is self-published. Self-published comics are always a crapshoot -- sometimes you get
a gem, sometimes you get crap. Vögelein is a big beauty of a gem with many facets to sparkle
and amaze.
The art will astound you! No, not because of bodice straining bosoms or super intricate details
with flying spleens and gushing gushiness, but because the pages were all painted! Jane really
shows us her talent with clean, expressive art that she actually took the time to paint.
How much time? According to her 'Notes from the Storyteller' five issues of Vögelein took her
four years to complete! But no worries, there are only five issues and she didn't release them
until she had finished all the pages. In her 'Notes', Jane mentions that as a comic book fan
herself, she hates waiting '18 months' for the next part to come out. Jane deserves a big round of
applause for that, I would say.
The story is as well done as the art. The mechanical fairy, Vögelein, German for 'little
bird', is starting to run down again but her keeper is unable to wind her up! There is a
melancholy air about her as she seeks someone else to turn her key. She finds a fellow busy at his
computer and asks him to wind her.
At this point I feel a twinge of uncomfortable sympathy for our little clockwork heroine. Having
to find someone to wind her seems almost akin to having to prostitute herself. She has to trust a
stranger with her body, and also her life. 'I won't move. I'm used to it.' and 'I've been in
places like his before. I won't be safe here as long as someone like him is around.' are such
achingly sad statements I find my heart swelling with empathy for this little Vögelein.
Just when you think you have this enchanting tale pegged, it takes an off-ramp into a dark
neighbourhood and leaves you wondering exactly where you are when an angry Vögelein throws away
her wind up key and it is returned to her by a creature unlike any I have ever seen before.
What will happen to Vögelein? I have no definite answer, but I do have a dozen suppositions!
Just as a final recommendation, do read the 'Windings' section. Jane tells the story of how
Vögelein came to be and has two pages of frequently asked questions with answers that
illustrate the depth she has put into her story.
Vögelein is a must read comic for those readers who look for good story and art regardless of
genre.