Publisher: Gestalt Comics
Writer/Artist: Skye Ogden
Release Date: 17th July 2014 (UK)

Vowels, a collection of text-free short stories from the mind of Australian comic creator Skye Ogden, could very easily be dismissed on first glance as merely a gimmick. A comic without words? What’s the point, right? Well, as it turns out, there’s a heck of a lot more than just an intriguing concept within these pages. Ogden utilises his distinctively cartoony style to tell five stories, each representing a particular vowel, and each tied deeply to the inherent joy and heartbreak of the human condition. It’s a captivating piece of work, and one that I dare say different people will interpret differently, depending on their own personal outlook on life.

The five stories cover a wide variety of situations and emotions, ranging from the most primitive feelings of lust and desire for companionship to the pain of coming to terms with a lost love. His wordless characters run the gamut from prehistoric cavemen to bizarre anthropomorphic ‘gecko-esque’ creatures, but the emotion and investment that Ogden manages to elicit in these quirky figures is truly impressive. To dig too deeply into the individual stories here would be to diminish the effect that they would have on the reader, and this is a book I wholeheartedly recommend reading for yourself. Granted, its style and premise may not be for everyone – some people need their words and narration, y’know? – but I’ll guarantee that a lot of people will find something endearing, uplifting and thought-provoking about this utterly charming book.

Ogden’s artwork is solid enough, and undeniably expressive, but it’s in his overall story structure where he truly shines. Rather than being constrained by the lack of words, he instead flourishes in this silent world, using subtle techniques to convey emotion, drama, tension and the passing of time. In a lot of ways, the lack of text and dialogue actually forces us to invest deeper in these characters, rather than finding ourselves merely reading the words and occasionally glancing up at the pretty pictures – something I unashamedly find myself doing with comicbooks from time to time.

Once again, while Vowels is unlikely to appeal to everyone, as a stripped-down example of sequential storytelling in its purest form, it’s difficult not to admire the work that Skye Ogden has put into this project. Dealing with complicated, deeply personal concepts such as mortality, jealousy and our innate desire for survival, this book serves as a perfect distillation of human emotion, and a glorious example of just how uniquely the comic book medium can be utilised in the right hands.

Rating: 4/5.

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You can purchase Vowels from Turnaround Publisher Services (who generously provided the review copy of this title) via their official website.

You can also check out a trailer for the graphic novel below;

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The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson (aka Ceej)
Article Archive: Ceej Says

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