Pacing is often everything to a story. It's more than just allowing the story to unfold. It's also about engaging the reader and keeping their interest, especially in longer works. There needs to be an even amount of character development, plotting, and whimsy for a story to become an all-around experience. Often times a good story becomes muddled in its own plot. The Canary That Named The Stars looks good as a story on paper. It checks a lot of boxes for a work of whimsical fantasy that can be both beautiful and moving. But the work itself could have benefited from some editing to tighten its narrative and focus its character's journey into something a bit more engaging.
The main narrative follows a woman named Chel who starts by raising her son on the streets. She eventually finds shelter and employment, accepting the job to keep her son safe. But she runs into trouble when they accidentally become witnesses to corruption. Her son dies, throwing Chel into despair as she's locked away for his murder to silence what she saw. Eventually, Chel begins to commune with her son through the stars. Once released from prison, she begins traveling the world, sharing what she's learned with others. She’s willing to give it up, though, to take revenge on the man responsible for her son's death, but Chel's son convinces her to let go.
Chel's story is undoubtedly a powerful one about loss and hope. But his story is more than just what's being told. It's also about how it's being told. The story's pacing moves rather slowly, especially since a large chunk of it is being told by Chel to a larger audience. Also, there are several instances where the main narrative breaks to tell a fable in a completely different art style. As individual pieces, The Canary That Named The Stars is quite compelling. The various plot points and brief narrative detours have some merit to them. But the work as a whole feels as if the story is being told to us rather than shown to us, and the work could have benefited from a tightening of the narrative belt.
You can find it at neverwascomics.com.
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