Webcomic Review: "Fox and Willow"!!

Doing something that I haven't done in a while...a webcomic review!! I have nothing against webcomics, but I have to say...it's hard to find a really beautiful, suspenseful, and interesting one. My personal opinion is that with the pressure of making a page a week or a chapter a month or whatever deadline the creators have set upon themselves, rushing can be an issue, and this affects quality. That being said, I kind of gave up on webcomics a while back...but decided to look for one and review the first one I saw...good or bad.

Something I struggle with as someone new to reviewing is feeling too positive. I was almost HOPING to get a terrible webcomic. Not that I like to tear down someone's passion or work...but I don't like feeling like I'm too easily pleased.

I'm waiting for the pitchforks.
...none? Ok.
Let's continue.

I stumbled upon "Fox and Willow" by accident, and I'm actually happy I did.

Reasons why:

I really LOVE the look of watercolor. As an "artist" (I try.), watercolor is something that I'm new to and struggling with. It really takes a lot of practice and control to make a loose medium look finished and polished. Another of my very favorite people and comic artists, Jill Thompson, does this too, and it looks FABULOUS! I LOVE the look of Fox and Willow, even if it's Photoshop or Illustrator and not water-paint-and-brushes watercolor. Pulling that LOOK off, in any medium, is HARD! Hats off to you, Aimo Ahmed!

Another think that I'm liking about this webcomic is that it has a very renaissance, fairy tale feel to it. I know that it's because of the "princess" title, but I very much love that you can tell the time, place, etc merely by looking at the artwork. Kudos!

I dabbled in creative writing for a while and something I struggled with was not having every character sound like ME. With Fox and Willow, they have their own personalities. I don't feel like they are "voiced" by one person. They are each unique, even from the very beginning. I love that their personalities weren't completely developed over time (they were there from the start) AND that even in the 60 pages posted, you can see a shift in their characters changing.

Cross referencing to the real world. Always a good thing. In "Fox and Willow", Allison Pang does a brilliant job in bringing in a familiar fairy tale. Have you heard of "The Cruel Sister" or "The Bonny Swans"?? Go Google it first, so you'll have a better appreciation for what's been accomplished here. I seriously wonder if this was planned from the very beginning or if it was a happy accident that occurred to Allison!


To give you a basic idea of the plot, I'll say a lot but not much. Willow is a wandering princess who ends up begging for a meal and a place to stay with a complete stranger. Her name is Jessa, and boy...is she a total creeper!! She's totally handsy with Willow and sends her and Gideon (aka Fox) to the barn for the night (Gideon is a fox spirit who can morph between human and animal form. I'm not too crazy about the furry look, but it works for the purpose of this story. That's my only negative comment on this one). The pair find a mysterious box, pick the lock, and find inside a bard's harp. The last scenes that we see (the most recent pages) are of Fox waking Willow, and taking her outside to a swan who transforms into the spirit of a woman. The asks for the necklace that Willow had previously found, and begins to tell of her mysterious past (as well as including a warning).

I'm not sure what's next to come with "Fox and Willow" but I'm on board! I'm excited to read more!

You can find "Fox and Willow" at Sad Sausage Dogs. It's updated every Monday and Thursday!