Flink
by Doug TenNapel
illustrated by Doug TenNapel
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Image Comics (New York): 28 November 2007. Trade paperback: 112 pages. ISBN-10: 1-58240-891-2 ISBN-13: 971-1582408910 Suggested retail price: $13.99 (US) Tags: bigfoot; camping; father-son relationships; Graphic Novel; magic Tactical strength: [5/10] |
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Conrad, a young teenage boy, gets to go on his first hunting trip with his father, who works for some government agency tasked to capture one or more bigfoot creatures. Conrad doesn't seem terribly interested in the hunt, since he never stops playing video games. When the plane crashes into a lake, Conrad assumes that his father died in the crash.
Conrad tries to make his way out of the Washington forest on foot, but he has only a small pocket knife and no provisions. Upon waking up after the first cold night, Conrad finds a trail of berries, which he follows. The berries lead to a cave, which unfortunately houses a bear. As the bear chases Conrad, the adultbigfoot who left the trail of berries comes out of hiding and helps Conrad escape from the bear. During the rescue, the bigfoot gets bitten by the bear, and Conrad does his best to provide first aid. Around the fire Conrad built, the bigfoot introduces himself as Flink.
Contrary to bigfoot law, Flink takes Conrad into the concealed bigfoot village. In Flink's quarters, Conrad learns that Flink lost his son several years earlier and that the bigfoot people have either magical powers or advanced healing technologies. Not wanting to cause further conflict for Flink, Conrad sneaks out during the night into a snowstorm. Flink, feeling an obligation for Conrad's safety, follows Conrad out into the snow.
TenNaple's art consists of lots of broad strokes. He draws with excellent consistency from frame to frame, but the broader brushes give a feeling more like a storyboard than a finished product. The art does well enough to convey the story, but I think some finer details could have conveyed more subtle emotions beyond base emotions like fear and sorrow.
While I found the art adequate, I found the themes clichéd and tired. First, we have a generic respect-for-life theme. Conrad has the opportunity to kill a dear for food, but Conrad chooses to let the deer go instead. The story needs this event to demonstrate to Flink that some humans don't meet his stereotype. The respect for life theme gets extended into the theme of common respect between species. By Bigfoot law, Flink should have have allowed Conrad to die in the forest, but Flink takes the step toward inter-species peace and saves the boy. In scenes like this, Flink joins the numerous other works that shout, "Oh, why can't we just all get along?" As a late comer to that crowd, Flink doesn't do much to convince us either way. We have already seen so many works advocating peace, that an artist needs to provide something extraordinary to stand out in that crowd. Unfortunately, Flick doesn't take its themes anywhere new, and even the warm-and-fuzzy ending barely warms the reader's heart.
