Zuli from Wingbearer
As I mentioned in my reading/watching log for June, there is something incredible going on in the world of children’s graphic novels right now. Gorgeous artwork, epic stories, heavy themes, and so many interesting, complex, three-dimensional female characters are currently defining that particular storytelling medium, and I can’t get enough of it.
There are a number of female protagonists from graphic novels I could have gone with for this blog: Vonceil from Salt Magic, Alidade from Mapmakers and the Lost Magic, Sorceline from... well, Sorceline. But it was Zuli from Wingbearer that really captured my heart.
Don’t be fooled by her design on the cover of the book – it’s rather awful, and they’ve given her that ghastly Dreamworks Face. The truth is, she’s more like an old school Disney Princess: compassionate, naïve, determined, curious, outspoken, with a pair of big brown eyes and a signature outfit. Like most fairy tale heroines, she’s a foundling, with a jewelled bracelet as her only clue as to where she originally comes from.
She’s enjoyed an idyllic childhood within the boughs of a tree that provides a resting place for the spirits of birds before they’re reborn back into the world, but after a prolonged period in which the bird spirits cease to arrive at the tree, Zuli takes it upon herself to go out into the world and find out the source of the affliction – another familiar fairy tale/Disney animated film trope.
The reason I keep bringing up Disney is that artist Teny Issakhanian literally worked for the company, and it’s apparent in her designs for all the characters. This is the closest I’ve ever come to watching the likes of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin for the first time again, as every panel looks like a still from a nineties Disney classic. Zuli in particular is so beautifully rendered, so bursting with colour and life and vitality. Her hair! Her eyes! Her little headband! Her balloon pants! I was captivated.
She’s also one of those characters who is protected by her own goodness. This can come across as unbearably trite if it’s not played with a careful hand, but Wingbearer succeeds with flying colours, simply because Zuli is never anything but totally sincere in her dealings with others. She’s honest, joyful and unprejudiced, and no one is ever left in any doubt that she’s completely earnest. At one point she gets a dragon to release his captives by the sheer power of her Puppy Dog Eyes. It’s as adorable as it is hilarious.
My only issue is that it’s going to take forever for the next book in the series to come out.
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