Advance Review: The Quiet Contemplation Of Mortality In The Beautiful ‘Tiny Fox And Great Boar: Dawn’

Beautifully quiet moments abound in the third and final graphic novel in Berenika Kolomycka‘s early reader series Tiny Fox and Great Boar: Dawn.

This is the first graphic novel series from Kolomycka and it’s a masterful piece of work, all culminating with a wonderful exploration of friendship, nature, feelings, and rather surprisingly for something aimed at a young audience, losing friends, death, and grief. That it all flows so perfectly and there’s not a wrong step throughout the 60-odd pages of the book is a testament to the skill of Kolomycka.

So far in the series, the Tiny Fox and Great Boar of the title have met and become firm friends, with Boar’s love of exploring all the wonders and beauty of the world around him encouraging the rather timid Fox to become a little braver.

Just as with the previous two volumes, Dawn is a sheer delight. It’s the first word that comes to mind as you embark on the journey through the watercolour pages, some full page illustrations, some comics pages, all just simply beautiful (and both simple and beautiful).

And as before, it’s not a tale where too much happens, that’s not the point here. It’s a gorgeously done book of moments between friends, an early readers/developing readers graphic novel all about friendship and gentle adventures together.

It’s pastoral, relaxed stuff, as you follow the pair through the forest, the meadow, onto the wetlands. When fox seems reluctant about the ‘lonely’ wetlands, Boar reassures and educates, showing Fox that there’s a whole ecosystem under their feet.

The art is simple and yet sublime, easy brushstrokes in watercolour making each page a delight. And there’s an experimentation as well, such as the distortion to the scene as Kolomycka shifts the viewer’s gaze to below the water.

Again, as it is all the way through, simple yet so beautifully effective.

But then things take a turn, both fascinating and unexpected, as they experience the fleeting life of a newly-befriended Mayfly and the sadness that comes from losing that newfound friend.

The Mayfly is introduced so perfectly, both Boar and Fox intrigued as they’re told of the small nymph’s MBDL – the Most Beautiful Day in Life. And there’s something wonderful yet bittersweet about hearing the nymph tell of the wonders to come, knowing as we do (but Boar and Fox dont’, not yet) of what the Mayfly has to expect from that MBDL.

After meeting the nymph, all is well for a little while as Fox and Boar tell the nymph all about their adventures and excitedly go to find their new pal the following morning, only to find that it’s MBDL already. Fox is jealous that she flew away, too busy to spend the time with her friends whilst Boar is more philosophical about it all.

And then comes dusk and the mayfly returns, only to fall from the sky, the end we knew was inevitable – but of course remember that the child reading this for the first time, just like Fox and Boar, doesn’t know and all this is new and scary for them.

As things go on and Fox and Boar talk, the philosophy comes out once more, with Boar’s careful, measured, sensible words not able to calm Fox’s fear and shock and sadness that he just didn’t understand why this horrible thing had happened, all magnificently depicted as Fox races through the increasingly dark and threatening forest followed by the shadow of sadness.

There’s an astonishing sense of being overwhelmed by panic and sadness and fear that Kolomycka captures across the pages here – just stunning moments on the page.

Frankly, the entirety of Tiny Fox and Great Boar is hugely impressive on so many levels. By the end, as Boar and Fox come to terms with their loss, we’ve all gone through an emotional journey, no matter what age we are. But for the younger readers, who won’t have the same knowledge and experience, the book lays out some incredibly complex ideas so clearly and easily, yet without stripping them of any of their complexity, and that’s the power of the story right there.

All three volumes of Tiny Fox and Great Boar are just the most perfect things for young and old, exploring grand things with ease, and looking beautiful whilst doing so. An absolutely unexpected treat for me, dipping into the books and discovering something truly special.

Tiny Fox and Great Boar Book Three: Dawn

Written and illustrated by Berenika Kolomycka

Lettered by Crank!

Hardcover publisher by Oni Press on April 5, 2023.