Digger is a webcomic drawn and written by Ursula Vernon. It updates every Tuesday and Thursday, and is hosted at Graphic Smash, a memberof the Modern Tales family of webcomic syndication sites. Digger was named one of the best webcomics of 2004 by The Webcomics Examiner, and was voted "Outstanding Black and White Art" winner in the 2005 Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards. It is also published in print form by SofaWolf Press.

Characters

• Digger-Of-Unnecessarily-Convoluted-Tunnels The title character — Digger. A young hard-headed wombat, lost far from home after tunnelling into a miasma of unknown magic. She comes from a mining background, and speaks with unironic delight about the digging of ditches and cellars. She has an extreme dislike of all things magical, and to a lesser extent of all things divine, though she increasingly tolerates the Statue and what it represents.
• "Ed" A hyena, outcast from his tribe. Once a skin-painter, in his isolation he has turned his skills to cave-wall painting. His actual name is unknown, having been "eaten", but Digger names him "Ed". His people (who, like real hyenas, are fiercely matriarchal) consider him monstrous. Ed insists upon referring to Digger as "Digger-mousie" and has a rather shaky grasp of whatever language is spoken by the other main characters.
• Shadowchild A small supernatural creature, unsure of what it is and wanting to know. There is a running gag based on Digger assuring the Shadowchild of various unlikely things it definitely is not, e.g.: a leaf; a water sapphire. Shadowchild has some disturbing powers and is suspected by some of being a demon, but it seems friendly and well-intentioned.
• The Statue A living statue of the Hindu god Ganesh, located in the temple where Digger surfaces after first getting lost underground. Friendly, and generous with the temple food-offerings. The priests and staff at his temple are human, as are the local villagers.
• The Veiled The local theocratic police force — human - at least so far — and not entirely friendly. They conceal the lower half of their faces with veils, that the gods might rely on the Veiled as a whole and not individually.
• Captain Jhalm The leader of the Veiled. Definitely has a dislike for Digger, and may intend her serious harm.
• Murai A lapsed member of the Veiled, who apparently was once an acolyte of the Statue and the god of which is an avatar. She is the most amicable of the Veiled whom Digger has met, but is troubled in her mind as a consequence of a previous uncomfortably close encounter with a goddess: she is prone to mad fits of babbling when the darkness begins to shine. Murai's references to the "Black Mother" imply this goddess may have been Kali, although that is by no means certain. Few things should ever be considered certain, so far as Ursula Vernon's writing is concerned.
• Grim Eyes Hyena warrior and leader of a hunting party from the local tribe.
• The Hag The local healer and witch. Human. Young for the job, and sensitive about her age.
• Oracular Slug A slug gifted with knowledge of the future thanks to an old, sad incident at a druid's microbrewery.
• Surka A professional bridge troll who is not actually a troll at all, but rather a female warrior shrew with a colorful past.

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, but none have appeared in the comic as yet.

Story

We first see Digger tunnelling alone through the ground, lost and dazed after being intoxicated by 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 put magic on 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.

External links

• Digger
• Metal and Magic Ursula Vernon's home site, including galleries of her other work.
• Interview with Ursula Vernon
• Vernon SBC interview Another Interview with Vernon
• Vernon SBC interview, conclusion Conclusion of same Vernon interview

2000s webcomics | Webcomics | Fantasy webcomics