Webcomic series by Ursula Vernon
Digger is a webcomic drawn and written by Ursula Vernon, and published in print form by Sofawolf Press. "Digger" won a Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story and a Mythopoeic Award, and was nominated for an Eisner Award.
Story.
In the opening pages, Digger is tunneling alone through the ground, lost and dazed after being intoxicated by a pocket of bad air. Digging to the surface, she emerges in a temple, where she meets the Statue of Ganesh. Here she finds that something or someone has "magicked up" her tunnel, cutting off her route home. The comic describes her experiences and encounters in the temple, nearby village and surrounding area as she seeks information on the whereabouts of her warren, how she came from there to her present location, and how she might get back.
Characters.
Other characters encountered include the hyenas of Grim Eyes' tribe, human villagers and farmers, human bandits, the acolytes of Ganesh's temple (some of whom hide a disturbing secret beneath their hoods), metaphorical pigeons, skin lizards, a dead god and its servants, and vampiric squash. Dwarves exist in Digger's world, noted for their reliance on magic, but none have appeared in the comic as yet.
Reception.
"Digger" has won the Web Cartoonists' Choice Award for "Outstanding Black and White Art" in 2005 and 2006, and for "Outstanding Anthropomorphic Comic" in 2006. In 2006, "Digger" was nominated for an Eisner Award in the category "Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition". The collected "Digger" won the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story and the 2013 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature.
Tor.com has described "Digger" as "fantastic-in-all-senses-of-the-word", praising Vernon's pacing and "tone-perfect mythology", while SF Signal declared that "Digger" "deserves to be appreciated" and "Black Gate" lauded Vernon for her portrayal of cultural relativity. Lauren Davis of io9 and ComicsAlliance called "Digger" an "oddball epic" and praised the titular heroine as an unusual fantasy protagonist and "a delight to watch", citing her pragmatic but softhearted nature, her frankness, and her strong moral center and sense of etiquette.
The series has drawn comparisons to "Bone", "Cerebus", and "Discworld".
Publication.
The series has been published in six volumes by Sofawolf Press between 2005 and 2011. In 2013, a Kickstarter was successfully held to have the entire series printed in omnibus form. In 2022, a Kickstarter was successfully held for a 10th anniversary collection from Underthing Press, an imprint of Grim Oak Press. Underthing Press's founder, Patrick Rothfuss, stated that he'd always daydreamed of starting his own imprint and he decided to create Underthing Press when he realized he couldn't buy a new copy of the "Digger" omnibus after giving his copy to a friend.
References.
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