I think this is what Boneclaw Mother was saying back in Owl Caller’s hut about the incident. A crime was committed, and the entire tribe bears the guilt.
This is also a very interesting take on domestic violence.
I told my mother about this comic the other day, your comment kind of remember me something she said, about how Ed can become redeamed by gaining a new name and being recognized as a person by someone who loves him and care for him, like Digger, so he no longer is whichever-his-name-used-to-be the one who commited the crime, but “Ed” a new person, a real person. … It was an interesting conversation, my mother couldn’t bear with the idea of an unredeamable sin, so it was an interesting point of view. Though, I have no idea what is going to happen with Ed….
He’s drawn with such authority in the final panel. He is no longer just a wise outcast now. He has truly become Digger’s mentor. It’s rare to see the “refusal to call” be an arc where the greatest change occurs in the mentor character.
ALL of Ed’s expressions in this scene are … well, for lack of a better word, beautiful.
His emotions are SO clear: in the first, he is clearly consoling Digger, as a mentor/father figure. In the second, his sadness over his “great shame” is painfully evident. And as others have mentioned, there is plenty of sternness, authority, and anger (mostly at himself) in the last pane.
@TekServer: it’s the right word. Beauty is, by definition, amoral and can be terrible and capable of great ugliness.. It is not rightness, goodness nor fair or just, just beauty. Again with the T Pratchett quotes (well, paraphrasing), as Mr Nutt says in “unseen academicals”
*“It [football] wants to be beautiful, it needs to be beautiful, like a well orchestrated war.”
“War is not beautiful.”
“But it is. Beauty is amoral. It may be the same as truth as you want to be poetic, but truth can be very, very hurtful. But it should WORK. It must flow, for better or worse”*
Ed expression and Ursula’s drawing thereof works: it conveys the feelings it’s meant to convey. No one said those would be nice. It also makes me green with envy. I have so many good images in my mind but have never been able to get them onto paper via drawing. Words, sometimes, but never as images. To go from the idea of Ed to that heart-rending image shows talent I know will never have. Thank you Ursula.
Something I hadn’t noticed until now, which increases my respect for Ed even more; his wisdom and self-sacrificial attitude in telling his painful memories. He’s not doing it for himself to get sympathy, but to teach Digger something and try to prevent more “badness” from happening.
Something I notice, and this may just go with the fact that “It,” the Eaten Skin-Painter, is identified differently from Ed, is the fact that this is the only time Ed’s referred to himself as “it” in front of Digger without cringing and fawning over the “real people” of the tribe.
The whole tribe should go. All the “warriors” bear the shame for allowing such a tragedy to continue for so long. Speaking as a retired warrior…
I think this is what Boneclaw Mother was saying back in Owl Caller’s hut about the incident. A crime was committed, and the entire tribe bears the guilt.
This is also a very interesting take on domestic violence.
Notice that Ed talks, as before, as if Ed is a new person, born when Ed was named.
Damn… now I’m doing it.
I told my mother about this comic the other day, your comment kind of remember me something she said, about how Ed can become redeamed by gaining a new name and being recognized as a person by someone who loves him and care for him, like Digger, so he no longer is whichever-his-name-used-to-be the one who commited the crime, but “Ed” a new person, a real person. … It was an interesting conversation, my mother couldn’t bear with the idea of an unredeamable sin, so it was an interesting point of view. Though, I have no idea what is going to happen with Ed….
He’s drawn with such authority in the final panel. He is no longer just a wise outcast now. He has truly become Digger’s mentor. It’s rare to see the “refusal to call” be an arc where the greatest change occurs in the mentor character.
From the looks of it, seventeen years isn’t enough to stop being angry at himself.
Centuries probably would not be long enough, Rista.
ALL of Ed’s expressions in this scene are … well, for lack of a better word, beautiful.
His emotions are SO clear: in the first, he is clearly consoling Digger, as a mentor/father figure. In the second, his sadness over his “great shame” is painfully evident. And as others have mentioned, there is plenty of sternness, authority, and anger (mostly at himself) in the last pane.
Absolutely amazing. Bravo, Ursula.
🙂
In a comic full of beautifully crafted and lovable characters, Ed is my favorite.
I am apparently rather thick right now, I’ve remained untouched by this whole story and I don’t note anything in the facial expressions.
If only more victims (and enablers) of domestic abuse understood things as Ed does now.
I adore Ed, but I particularly love how Ursula does all the hyenas’ ears, since I have furry pets, and ears are how they express themselves.
@TekServer: it’s the right word. Beauty is, by definition, amoral and can be terrible and capable of great ugliness.. It is not rightness, goodness nor fair or just, just beauty. Again with the T Pratchett quotes (well, paraphrasing), as Mr Nutt says in “unseen academicals”
*“It [football] wants to be beautiful, it needs to be beautiful, like a well orchestrated war.”
“War is not beautiful.”
“But it is. Beauty is amoral. It may be the same as truth as you want to be poetic, but truth can be very, very hurtful. But it should WORK. It must flow, for better or worse”*
Ed expression and Ursula’s drawing thereof works: it conveys the feelings it’s meant to convey. No one said those would be nice. It also makes me green with envy. I have so many good images in my mind but have never been able to get them onto paper via drawing. Words, sometimes, but never as images. To go from the idea of Ed to that heart-rending image shows talent I know will never have. Thank you Ursula.
Something I hadn’t noticed until now, which increases my respect for Ed even more; his wisdom and self-sacrificial attitude in telling his painful memories. He’s not doing it for himself to get sympathy, but to teach Digger something and try to prevent more “badness” from happening.
Something I notice, and this may just go with the fact that “It,” the Eaten Skin-Painter, is identified differently from Ed, is the fact that this is the only time Ed’s referred to himself as “it” in front of Digger without cringing and fawning over the “real people” of the tribe.
@BunnyRock Your comment reminds me of the song “Beautiful” by Creed.