A World of Poetry

Gunnerkrigg Court starts out as a deceptively simple comic.

The first chapter was a standalone story about a girl, her shadow, her second shadow, and a robot.

The second chapter was also, by and large, standalone - but it began introducing other characters.

By chapter three, relationships begin to form. Backstory starts to be revealed. The story grows a bit more. More direct mysteries come into play, as opposed to the simple curiousities of where this school is, and what is our intrepid heroine doing there?

We are currently in the midst of chapter seven. Things have developed, as they have a mind to do. We have seen a bit more into the depths of the characters. We still don't know all that is going on behind the scenes, of course. But we now have a sense that there is stuff going on.

The chapter began with an ominious scene. We have a lot of the characters we know quite well by now, all brought together - Antimony, the protaganist. Katerina, her best friend. Reynardine, a demon now bound in the form of her doll, and bound to her will. Mr. Eglamore, a dragon slayer - and one of her teachers. That strange bird that keeps showing up.

And of course, our friend Robot, the charming little automaton from the first chapter, now looking somewhat the worse for wear.

The chapter pauses for a moment, jumps back a few hours in time, and takes a short break to return to a bit of mundanity, and give out some more background on the nature of things.

However... it appears we are about to return to that opening scene on the bridge. Stuff is liable to, well... happen. Now is a very good time to be paying close attention to the things happening over at Gunnerkrigg Court.

Now, the words I have written thus far may make it sound as though the comic is nothing but serious, heavy story. Nothing could be farther from the truth - every aspect of the strip has a sense of wonder and amazement, and as mentioned, many parts of it can easily be read entirely on their own. There is a clever humor to the characters, a charming sense of youth, and a wondrous design to the world they inhabit.

But right now, it looks as though the storm clouds are brewing, and we may have some mysteries revealed.

Not all of them, I am sure. That is likely a long way off, and there are more surprises and unknowns about Gunnerkrigg Court than I can imagine answers to.

But still. Stuff is happening. The comic is, at all times, highly engaging to me, due solely to the beauty of the strip and the story. But right here, right now, I am on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next installment.

Gunnerkrigg Court is one of the comics I would classify as a masterpiece - and right now, I suspect, it is right about to hit a turning point. I don't think I want to miss that, and I highly recommend others take a look towards it as well.