On The Way GN Review

 

Writer: Paco Hernández

Artist & Cover Artist: José Ángel Ares

Publisher: Ablaze

Price: $19.99

Release Date: November 8, 2023

 

Emma gets off the bus from Pamplona in Roncesvalles. She mistakes the Spanish village's church for the Cathedral in Santiago. Emma discovers that 790 kilometers lay between her and the end of the French Way, the most popular variant of the Camino De Santiago, or The Way Of Saint James. Why would she embark on this ambitious pilgrimage without more knowledge and preparation? Let's leap into the On The Way GN and find out!

 

Story

Emma hails from Lleida, a city in Catalonia where she lives with her partner Dani. While Dani used his love of comics as a springboard to get a job at a magazine, Emma remains dedicated to her craft. He tires of her drawing at night when he wants to go out and socialize with their friends. Emma won a prestigious Revelation award at the annual Barcelona International Comic Fair. Still, Dani wants her to adopt a more conventional career.

 

Abby is a Camino De Santiago veteran in the On The Way GN (graphic novel). She senses Emma's confusion and takes the newbie in hand. With Abby's help, Emma gets her booklet, learns all the places she needs to stop to get it stamped, trims down her pack to the essentials, and explains the importance of getting to bed early each night. But in the morning, as they begin the epic journey, Emma asks Abby to slow down. Abby gives her a rough awakening. “Walk at your pace, or risk getting Tendinitis.”

 

 

Paco Hernández tries to convey the challenge facing Emma in the On The Way GN. As Abby tells her, many start, but few finish the entire journey. Emma spends most days and nights at her art table. To complete the Camino De Santiago in a month, Emma needs to average 25 kilometers each day. That's over fifteen miles and includes hiking up and down hills on Abby's "leg-breaker" stages.

 

As fellow hiker Ramon tells Emma in the graphic novel, pilgrims undertake The Way Of Saint John for different reasons, including sport, vacation, faith, honor the deceased, or to fulfill a promise. He warns her to choose her companions carefully, as some unscrupulous pilgrims take advantage of pilgrims and hostels. Yet she refuses to heed his advice about Abby when she reunites with her in towns and villages.

 

Emma welcomes others into her circle, including Francois, who yearns to perfect his potato omelets. Inspired by his grandfather's stories, the young man aborted two previous attempts due to Tendinitis. Then there’s heavyset Juan, who hopes to start a T-shirt business. He’s amazed by Emma's ambitions as a comic artist. According to his sister Eva, he has superpowers: he always hears about free food and drinks!

 

Art

Ares imbues characters with realistic body shapes and movements in On The Way GN. The characters visit vivid and compelling backgrounds. The landscapes, monuments, and historic architecture wow. Character faces and expressions have a gentle, easygoing appeal that evokes Funny Things, the Charles M. Schultz Comic Strip Biography from IDW that I reviewed earlier this year. Emma and Abby’s reactions to humor, insights, bonding, and surprise may seem more at home in a Peanuts strip than in a comic or trade paperback. Still, their love for each other and their wonder at their discoveries shine through their eyes.

 

Ares enhances the artwork with blue and brown shading. Blue seems poorly suited to Emma's trek through Spain, where pilgrims rise early each morning to miss the midday heat. Yet the shading enhances the depth and appeal of the characters and the historic locales they visit. Plus, it occasionally rains in sunny Spain. Imagine hiking 15 miles when it rains on the plains! (Sorry, but I had to throw that in). Ares uses brown to shade flashbacks of Emma's difficulties with Dani in On The Way GN. Perhaps the warm color suggests her passion for Dani and their increasingly heated discussions.

 

Large blue or brown uppercase lettering adorns dialogue balloons and narrative boxes in similarly shaded scenes. Fun and appealing sound effects lighten the drama while never undercutting the relationships or the enormity of completing this epic journey. Thanks to Ablaze Comics for providing a copy for review and allowing me to "Have a Nice Camino" with Emma.

 

Final Thoughts

The On The Way GN follows Emma on a breathtaking journey across Spain. A priest assures the comics writer and artist that she is far from alone in hiking The Way Of Saint John for nonreligious reasons. Yet she experiences the everyday miracles he promised on her month-long trek. What Emma learns during the Camino De Santiago empowers her to reassess her life and make decisions regarding her future.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

This review was originally published on Comic Book Dispatch.