Scarf

December 14, 2013 8:25 AM

"Scarf" - a wordless wintry comic by Emmy Cicierega
posted by overeducated_alligator (27 comments total)

That was neat!
posted by Renoroc at 8:36 AM on December 14, 2013

That was so lovely.
posted by rtha at 8:44 AM on December 14, 2013

I admit this wasn't fully my thing (though the artwork, in particular the low-light coloring, was impressive)...

...but a snowman eating a snowburger? Classic.
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 8:46 AM on December 14, 2013

Those Cicierega kids are all right!
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:49 AM on December 14, 2013 [4 favorites]

Brilliant. Utterly brilliant. Not my usual style, but the ways she works with line, lighting and composition are first-rate.

Weird coincidence: I just came here to see if anyone had ever posted about woodcut novels -- a longer form of wordless narrative -- and this was at the top of the page.

And as it happens, yes, we've had at least two posts on them. Please look.
posted by maudlin at 8:52 AM on December 14, 2013

Any more Cicierga kids out there to make the internet a better place?
posted by charred husk at 8:52 AM on December 14, 2013

Man, that was wonderful. The sheen on the ice was brilliantly done, as well.
posted by notsnot at 8:53 AM on December 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

Dear Cicierga family: Please adopt me so that I can absorb your talents.

/waits expectantly
posted by maudlin at 8:54 AM on December 14, 2013 [4 favorites]

Excellent in every category for a comic to be excellent. So good, in fact, it makes me feel lazy for not drawing my own comics. I've gotta get to work.
posted by KHAAAN! at 8:58 AM on December 14, 2013

Very beautiful.
I wish it scrolled though.
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:07 AM on December 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

I admit this wasn't fully my thing...

Nor mine. The OP could do with a warning that the link consists of 44 pages!
posted by fairmettle at 9:08 AM on December 14, 2013 [2 favorites]

I think it was better as a series of pages rather than any kind of scrolling. You get each large illustration served up to you complete, full-sized and centered with a single click. The Next button is in the same place from page 2 onwards, too, so you don't have to slip and slide to find it.

Scrolling has its virtues, but you can overshoot or undershoot a large graphic that way pretty easily, and you have to think about the process of scrolling while you do it. Maybe a scroll option at the end would be nice for people who would like to easily get back to a certain image, but clicking seems better for experiencing the story for the first time.

Of course, I'm old enough to remember the sheer physical labour of reading a book with pages that had to be turned manually, but not old enough to remember the comfy feeling of sitting down with a papyrus scroll and a cup of wine with pitch in it.

I'm sure someone will be along to defend clay tablets soon enough.
posted by maudlin at 9:19 AM on December 14, 2013 [8 favorites]

Wonderful. Thank you.
posted by Lynsey at 9:21 AM on December 14, 2013

If you want more of Ms. Cicierega's art printed on paper, she did an art book last year as part of a very successful Kickstarter project along with Anthony Clark (of Nedroid fame), Danielle Corsetto (Girls with Slingshots), and Aaron Diaz (Dresden Codak).

She also has a tumblr where she posts some art.
posted by JDHarper at 10:02 AM on December 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

Delightful.
posted by pised at 10:06 AM on December 14, 2013

Wonderful comic. Half-way through, I decided to listen to The Snowman soundtrack while I read the comic, which complemented the comic beautifully.
posted by Green Winnebago at 10:44 AM on December 14, 2013

Loved the style- A
Story was ok to decent- B-

well worth the time, thank you
posted by edgeways at 10:44 AM on December 14, 2013

This is lovely.
posted by Paris Elk at 10:45 AM on December 14, 2013

Emmy Cicierega is awesome. Somebody get this woman a major grant.
posted by happyroach at 11:50 AM on December 14, 2013 [2 favorites]

If the navigation was bothering you, I highly recommend the Firefox extension Space Next. Instead of searching out and clicking a "next page" button, you just hit the space bar and it loads the next page for you. It worked perfectly on this comic (which I saw yesterday and was super-impressed by. Go Emmy!).
posted by brookedel at 1:23 PM on December 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

While the whole 'death and rebirth' thing for the seasons/sun/moon/day/what have you is okay, I really, really like the idea that Spring is simply sleeping and waiting for its time to come back 'round, and that Winter is a friend of theirs.

Thank you for posting. Most awesome.
posted by Mooski at 1:46 PM on December 14, 2013 [4 favorites]

Delightful! There's a whole lot of talent in this artist - I wish her great success!
posted by aryma at 4:07 PM on December 14, 2013

Very sweet.
I love the blue winter light, and the full screen on page 37.
posted by doctornemo at 4:23 PM on December 14, 2013

Liked the illustrations, and the story was cute up until we had to go get the boyfriend, because a woman just can't have fun with her snow sprite without a man along. Nobody ever told her three was a crowd?
posted by BlueHorse at 5:58 PM on December 14, 2013 [4 favorites]

Totally loved it until pajama pants guy came on the scene and wow, did it go flat for me.
posted by thinkpiece at 6:51 PM on December 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

Wow, just gorgeous. Thank you for sharing this, I loved it.
posted by arcticwoman at 7:19 AM on December 15, 2013

I was wary of its tweeness at first, but it won me over. I had to laugh at the snowball fight with Winter Spirit making dozens of snowballs.

And, people, "a woman just can't have fun with her snow sprite without a man along"? Really? Would it have been better if it had been a woman friend, or the guy had been wearing a T-shirt with "PURELY PLATONIC FRIEND" on it?
posted by Halloween Jack at 3:20 PM on December 15, 2013