You don’t have to read much of Wallace the Brave to know it has the makings of one of the great comic strips. Even at just over three years, it’s shown an immense quality of artistry, humour, character, and tone, the likes of which its obvious predecessors had in spades. I opened this series talking about Cul de Sac, “The Last Great Newspaper Strip” and it seems only fitting to conclude with the strip I think proves that may not be the case. Because following in the footsteps of Cul de Sac, Calvin & Hobbes, and Peanuts, Will Henry’s own delightful take on childhood has a lot of that same magic, as well as its own unique character.
It’s about the adventures and day-to-day activities of a boy named Wallace McClellan in the small Eastern American coastal town of Snug Harbor. An imaginative, rambunctious kid, he often hangs out with his friends, the eccentric though simple-minded Spud and over-enthusiastic tomboy Amelia. His dad, a fisherman, has some of the same adventurous spirit, even his mom at times, and he has an insane (and possibly evil) younger brother Sterling.
Henry, a Connecticut-based cartoonist had initially run a short-lived strip called Ordinary Bill where the Calvin & Hobbes influence was blatant in the panel layout, detail, and even the title card. For Wallace the Brave, he’s definitely found his own style though and it is remarkable. In an age where so many strips look (and almost certainly are) digitally drawn, Wallace the Brave maintains a sharp hand-drawn feel to it. It’s as flowing and seamless as the earliest cartoons, the unique way Henry draws speech bubbles implies a soothing mellowness in one moment and chaotic exuberance the next.
Henry’s greatest strength may be his expressiveness, which contributes a lot to both the rich look of the strip, and its humour. There’s a heightened nature to the whole environment, serene and pastoral like a recollection of childhood, yet still modern. The clouds have elaborate curls and there’s as many loops and squiggles as in a Dr. Seuss book. Henry takes advantage of the modern colourizing of the dailies to shade various panels in a particular hue to emphasize a unique tone and emotion. But it’s the characters who are most enlivened by the expressive art. The nuance in how the eyes, eyebrows, mouth, body language, and sense of movement are drawn makes for a lot of really hilarious images matched by really smart writing. In particular, Henry draws ‘crazed’ rather well, whether in enthusiasm, hysteria, or fear.
He varies up the style of his dialogue font too, blowing up words, or colouring them a different way, giving them a flourish or even just changing the letter case. And he includes sound effects and symbols for ironic, exaggerated, or child-like punctuation, dotting his panels every so often with them, alongside seagulls and their subtle thoughts -one of the most charming and funniest features of Wallace the Brave. He even gets creative with his signature now and again, adding a nickname ranging from “Billy” to “half man half raisin” or “Happy Haggis” hidden away usually nonchalantly in the corner of a panel.
There’s tons of elaborate detail in these strips, a lot of effort going into the artwork which is always a delight. The creativity is sublime and so gorgeous it even illustrates the header photo of my Twitter page. Some have used the comic strip format and size to be as minimalist as possible, not putting much work into the areas of the strip beyond the characters and basic settings. Bill Watterson criticized these strips as merely ‘talking heads’, and Will Henry abides by the same philosophy. In both the dailies and recently acquired Sundays he incorporates as much into the panels as he can to stand out more and challenge himself. He hasn’t done so as drastically or creatively yet on Wallace as he did on Ordinary Bill, but I feel like he wants to, and his syndicate should let him. Because Wallace the Brave is the best looking newspaper strip running today!
Wallace’s energy is matched by his wonderful sense of humour and flare for the dramatic making him a character who’s a lot of fun to follow. His active imagination is a delight as is his impulsiveness and boldness in the face of the unknown (hence why he’s “the Brave”), as trivial as that unknown may be. He’s definitely reckless, but just the best kind of weird kid. And a pinball enthusiast to boot.
Spud and Sterling are a couple of the funniest comic characters I’ve encountered in a long time. Spud’s over-the-top reactions, strange obsessions, deep knowledge of schoolyard legends, and fear of everything rarely fails to be funny. And it makes him the perfect foil for Wallace. He’s also a terrific fall character to take abuse, the frequent target of Amelia’s insults, the kid often forgotten or ignored, especially by Wallace’s dad who can never remember his name, and just to whom bad stuff happens. 
Sterling is an unpredictable little menace, whose speech is exclusively written in a chaotic font and is usually either something comically sinister or genuinely foreboding. He’s the source of a lot of random, sometimes downright surreal humour (actually a staple of this strip) and is frequently hilarious. Obviously no explanation is given for this, and his parents and brother seem for the most part oblivious to their psychotic toddler.
But I think Amelia is my favourite. She has a real affinity for mischief and an ebullient, daring edge from her first appearance, announcing loudly her intent to “huck a rock” at a hornets nest. The object of Spud’s affection, it’s fun seeing her torment him, as well as her “take charge” attitude with the boys and sometimes utter disbelief at their priorities. And as the tough girl of the strip, she’s perhaps the best of her type since Lucy Van Pelt. But Amelia can be just as weird as her friends half the time which makes her quite endearing (as does the way she says “For Realzies!” when confronted with something unbelievable but cool). 
Wallace’s parents are also really refreshing in just how down-to-earth they are and how well they relate to their kids (or at least Wallace). His dad, a professional fisherman, routinely trades barbs and sarcastic quips with him, and shows more than a little enthusiasm for Wallace’s creativity and dangerous ventures.
But even his mom is a little surprising in this regard, as he doesn’t always get in trouble with her for breaking traditional domestic rules. In fact she shares in a lot of his curiosities and hobbies. It’s clear both of them were very much like Wallace as kids and are wonderfully modern parents for realizing that.
Though there’s plenty of wit, slapstick, and deadpan humour, Henry seems to have a special fondness for non-sequiturs and surreality. There are an awful lot of bizarre jokes and images he conjures, but what makes them work is how true they are to the characters and how authentic to the unusual way children act, think, and view the world. Wallace the Brave certainly has a firmer grasp on the weirdness and wonder of childhood than any cartoon being published today, and its characters so incredibly embody that.
Wallace the Brave relates to an intergenerational audience, but I think it’s written for people like Henry: adults who have a fondness for childhood, their own strange experiences, and the classic strips that clearly inspired Wallace -in short, Wallace’s parents rather than Wallace himself.
It isn’t purely a nostalgia strip though, far less removed from its era than the other greats that have been mentioned. Wallace and his friends are modern kids in a modern world, but just happen to have a universal outlook and resonant sense of adventure that’s not dependent on a lot of technology or contemporary culture. I’m sure any kid living in a town like Snug Harbor would spend a lot more time outdoors than those raised in a bland rural neighbourhood.
But Wallace the Brave only entered syndication this year and it already has a timeless appeal. Maybe it’s too early to say it’s a classic, but it is the latest in the dynasty of phenomenal childhood-centric comic strips first trail-blazed by Charles Schulz in 1950. And like its most recent precursor, Cul de Sac, it shows in equal measure the influence it’s built on and its wholly unique character. This is a strip to keep an eye on, it’s going places.
I hope you’re listening, Reuben Awards.
Two of the comic strips I’ve talked about this month have won Reuben Awards, the Oscar of the comic strip world, and the other two deserve to. Cul de Sac, Retail, The Pajama Diaries, and Wallace the Brave are marvellous and funny proofs that the comics page still produces quality content despite its fading popularity. And that’s not even mentioning other great post-2000 strips like Frazz, Tina’s Groove, Pearls Before Swine, The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee, Watch Your Head, Deflocked, My Cage, or Phoebe and Her Unicorn; any of which can be read and supported online.
Comic strips deserve more love. Despite the seeming limitations of the format they’re an interesting, fun, and versatile art form for telling stories, or just being an entertainment or a comfort every day. I’ve relished talking about them this month, and perhaps in some form I may discuss them again in the future. I would hope that readers take away not only an interest in the four strips I’ve highlighted, but a curiosity to find more and discover what this medium has to offer. There’s a comic strip out there for everyone and a wide open internet. Let’s go exploring!
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