hertinkness | Hereville Review

Here...ville

This is one of the neater concepts for a webcomic I've seen in a while. It follows the adventures of a headstrong girl Mirka, who wants to grow up to be a dragonslayer, and her family. It's pretty standard fantasy, with a couple of twists that make you unable to put it down.

First, I've been unable to nail down the time period and place this is supposed to be set in. We could be talking about an insular community in post-war Europe, or a 1950's Levitton, or ten years from now. I mean I can nail it down a little bit- they didn't have electric stoves or lightswitches in the 1400's. Stuff like that absolutely fascinates me. And as far as we can tell from the kids' point of view, magic more than exists in the world.

Second, the cast is entirely Orthodox Jewish (with the exception of the possible witch that Mirka and her brother meet, but you'll have to read it to find out what's up with that), and the creator Barry Deutsch really brings their family traditions to life. You don't see too many of that particular faith in comics, and it's a refreshing change of pace.

Mirka's relationship with her shrewd stepmother is also something to hold dear in this comic. Mirka will, as most kids do, start arguments to get out of doing chores- but Mirka and Fruma don't have normal mother-daughter fights. They argue about free will, or good and evil, or the ecology of dragons. And yet, throughout each exchange, you never get the feeling that either one doesn't genuinely care about the other. I'm really looking forward to seeing this develop.

The magic is real. The art is sepia-toned. And the challah smells delicious, I imagine. I've found a new reason to look forward to Wednesdays!