''Owly'' is an American

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

series created since 2004 by

Andy Runton Andy Runton is an American writer and artist. He is the creator of the graphic novel series '' Owly'', first published in 2005 by Top Shelf. Before he worked on ''Owly'' Runton was a graphic designer. In 2005, he won the Ignatz Award for Promis ...

and published by

Top Shelf Productions Top Shelf Productions is an American publishing company founded in 1997, originally owned and operated by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock and a small staff. Now an imprint of IDW Publishing, Top Shelf is based in Marietta, Georgia. Top Shelf pub ...

Series overview

The series, which is largely without standard text

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is c ...

making it a pantomime comic, is about the adventures of a gentle

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

named Owly who resolves to do good and make friends in his world with the help of his good companions, the clever

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wor ...

, Wormy, and Scampy, the gluttonous but good hearted

chipmunk Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of the family Sciuridae. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks may be classified either as ...

. While he faces obstacles in the pursuit of that goal, his faith in the goodness in the world is never disappointed.

Publication history

Collections

Single issues

Top Shelf has published several single issues of ''Owly'', as part of

Free Comic Book Day Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to attract new readers to independent comic book stores. It usually takes place on the first Saturday of May and is often cross-promoted wit ...

. *''Owly: Splashin' Around'' was published in 2005 *''Owly: Breakin' the Ice'' was published in 2006 *''Owly: Helping Hands'' was published in 2007. *''Owly: In a Fix!'' was published in 2008. *''Owly: and Friends!'' was published in 2009

Children's Books

Runton has published two ''Owly & Wormy'' children's books.

Awards and recognition

Wins

*''The Way Home'' Mini received the 2004

Howard E. Day Prize Howard Eugene Day (August 13, 1951 – September 23, 1982) was a Canadian comics artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' '' Star Wars'' licensed series and '' Master of Kung Fu''. He was considered a mentor by independent comic writer/ar ...

for outstanding achievement in self-publishing. * Andy Runton won the 2005

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that were ...

for Best New Talent for ''Owly''. * Andy Runton won the 2005

Ignatz Award The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping a ...

for Promising New Talent for ''Owly''. * ''Owly: Flying Lessons'' received the 2006

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

in the category "Best Publication for a Younger Audience." *''Owly'' won the 2006

for Outstanding Series.

Nominations

* 2005 Harvey Award nominee for Best Graphic Novel * 2005 Harvey Award nominee for Best New Series * 2005 Eisner Award nominee for Best Publication for a Younger Audience

In other media

A computer-animated short featuring Owly and Wormy was produced by

Sprite Animation Studios Sprite Animation Studios is a Los Angeles, CA-based CGI animation studio founded in 2002 by former members of Square USA led by Motonori "Moto" Sakakibara, co-director of Square Pictures and Columbia Pictures’ feature film '' Final Fantasy: T ...

, and premiered at the

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...

in July 2009. The short was story boarded by Runton himself, and directed by Moto Sakakibara. Runton contributed a story featuring Owly and Wormy for the 25th issue of

Valiant Comics Valiant Comics is an American comic book publisher. The company was founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter along with lawyer and businessman Steven Massarsky. In 1994, the company was sold to Acclaim Entertainment ...

' ''

X-O Manowar X-O Manowar (Aric of Dacia) is a fictional superhero co-created by writers Jim Shooter and Steve Englehart, and artists Bob Layton and Barry Windsor-Smith. The eponymous comic book series published by Valiant Comics has sold more than 8 million c ...

'' in May 2014.

References

{{reflist

External links

Comics section in Andy Runton's site
American comics 2004 comics debuts Fictional owls Top Shelf Productions titles Ignatz Award winners for Outstanding Series Pantomime comics Comics about birds Comics about animals Comics characters introduced in 2004