Webcomic Review: Prague Race

It’s been a minute Steemit! Work has been kicking my butt since our legislature is back in session. But that is neither here nor there because this week was an incredible week for webcomics.

Today I want to talk to you about the long anticipated return of Petra Nordlund’s dark fantasy comic, Prague Race.

Webcomic: Prague Race

Creator: Petra Nordlund

If ever the directors Hayao Miyazaki and Guillermo del Toro were to collaborate on a project, Prague Race would be it. This comic is a wandering odyssey, both sinister and whimsical, riding a blurry line between dreamscape and nightmare.

Where to begin with this one. Prague Race is about three friends in their early university years, adjusting to their new independence and adult identities.

Leona is carefree, relentless, and not ready to “grow up”. She makes adventures out of little chores and errands, often wrangling her two cohorts into her schemes. She’s prone to distraction and believes that predictability is boring.

Colin is Leona’s antithesis; anxious, artsy, and fastidious. He likes calm, scheduled encounters, and scares easily when confronted with most anything unexpected. He’s developed a crush on Leona despite her incessant teasing, and with a little encouragement will try to prove himself by embracing the unknown.

Miko is an easy-going, kind-hearted, good friend. He often assumes the responsibility of protecting the others or providing advice and wise counsel. He’s a bit self conscious which sometimes leads to self doubt, but when push comes to shove, Miko is in your corner 100%.

One of the things I love most about this comic is its efficiency in balancing story construction with character development. Each friends’ personality is well defined, including their relationships with each other. And this character exposition comes at no cost to the story itself which unfolds with eerie assiduousness.

The story impels when Leona and Colin visit a curiosity shop in town. There they meet unfriendly shop owner Sela, her socially awkward assistant Toska, and their very strange “dog”, Fishsticks. Leona purchases a peculiar poster featuring a catlike figure with 13 arms. At this point I think it’s important to highlight Nordlund’s exquisitely eldritch illustration style, captured spectacularly in this scene. The curiosity shop is a visual feast of detailed oddities and knick-knacks. Though the comic employs a limited color spectrum, the inky contrasts set the tone perfectly.

Back at home Leona begins to notice odd happenings, including an infestation of pinecone critters and the disappearance of the figure in her poster. Colin, in an attempt to impress Leona, volunteers to return the poster to the curiosity shop. Back at the shop he is exposed to the truth about the shop’s proprietors. Sela and Toska explain that they are traders between two worlds linked by a labyrinth passage. The poster Colin is returning is from the Prague Race collection of enchanted cursed items and was mistakenly brought to the shop. To keep their secret safe, Sela kidnaps Colin and sends Toska to dispose of Leona and Miko.

The story takes a turn when Leona discovers she’s become the host for the Prague Race parasite and has acquired its unusual abilities. Toska, an easily distracted troll in disguise, fails to exterminate them and ends up befriending Leona. He agrees to take them to his world, Vinetia, to rescue Colin.

This comic has so much fun steeping itself in the surrealism of its world. It's a story full of boundless heavens and dark corners, all rich with imagination. And as Nordlund is an expert in creature creation, the characters introduced in Vinetia are some of the most fun. We are introduced to Pam, a pun loving werewolf, Valencia Bonny, an elegant owner of a casino, and Pikokai, an eccentric captain of a flying ship.

As I mentioned earlier, this comic could be the brain child of directors Hayao Miyazaki and Guillermo del Toro. Like Miyazaki films, Prague Race has a dreamlike quality, where the characters and plot can become a bit ambiguous. Bad guys can become good guys and directives get reshuffled. Similar to the works of GdT, the comic is drenched in dark and creepy imagery. Yet it's surprisingly full of dry humor, which brings a lot of levity in contrast. I highly recommend this webcomic for fans of similar content. Prague Race was on hiatus while creator Nordlund worked on another comic which recently launched. Her second comic Tiger Tiger is an 18th century style adventure story. I hope to do a review on it as well once we hit some story arcs! In the meantime I'm thrilled Prague Race has returned and will be updating on Wednesdays.

All pictures are credited to the wonderfully talented Petra Nordlund and her comic Prague Race. Please check them out!