Dogpatch Press

Welcome to Bessie, of Marfedblog, a comics review and criticism site. There’s furry stuff there, and much more, with devoted curation by a fan doing exactly what they love. If you like this, give it a follow. And expect more syndicated content reposted here. (- Patch)

Emily Rose Lambert, is an illustrator and first class graduate from Loughborough University who works as a greetings card designer. Her work encompasses comics, design and illustration, often featuring repeating patterns, showcasing a preoccupation with indigenous American culture, nature and animals.

Dreamscape is the lovely, achingly cute story of two adorable animal characters travelling through a series of dreamlike vignettes that evokes the ephemeral nature of dreams and conveys that sense of disjointed dreamlike logic as the characters drift between seemingly disparate situations and emotions. The story floats effortlessly from the fantastical, one of the figures breaking into fragments, one lovingly patching up the other with clay and leaves to the more everyday, as the dreamers enter a birthday party late and unable to sing along with the other revellers. From the small embarrassments that gently gnaw away at us in the night to the gentle sense of dread as an unknown figure watches us from afar, each instance captures the moments in dreams where feelings seem always just a little too close to the surface, more immediate and raw.

On her own blog, Emily briefly describes her process behind the comic revealing an early draft that she had begun creating digitally until, as she puts it a “boost of confidence in using ink and pencil” promoted her to switch over to more traditional methods resulting in the final comic. It’s a decision that definitely works in her favour, as does the restriction to black and white owing to the anthology it’s collected in.

The first draft almost seems too solid, too real while the traditional hand drawn panels fit the otherworldly tone of the story perfectly. The final version with the soft pencils and ink give her story a suitably intangible feel in the way that dreams often are. A sense that if you tried to bring it any more into focus, recall it in more detail, it would fade away. The sudden sadness upon awakening as you desperately grasp at details that moments ago seemed so clear become more fleeting and blurred around the edges the harder you concentrate on them. Only half remembered,  leaving you only a feeling or a vague sense of them.

The comic ends where it begins as one of the figures looks out onto the stars once more, again emphasizing it’s roots in dream logic and the recursive, circular nature they sometimes taken on, with motifs or events being repeated over and over. Her sparse dialogue has the rhythm and mood of a fairytale. Sweet, whimsical and imbued with both trepidation hope, it manages to cover a complete gamut of emotions in only two pages.

Originally posted on marfedblog, where Bessie reviews and spotlights Furry and mainstream comics.

Let’s add a comment that came up in conversation about syndicating the reviews:

To explain what my ‘aim’ is with my articles and what I’m all about: I love the comics stuff on Dogpatch and other sites but I think it can get a bit insular with people reviewing anything with anthro characters or featuring the same people all the time (Kyle Gold etc) and what I enjoy doing is pointing out new and interesting comics and creators that are part of the fandom that people may not be aware of or increasingly, people outside the fandom who are doing interesting projects using anthro characters. I’m constantly surprised that for a group that gobbles up anything remotely furry still manage not to pick up on some real gems, usually from lack of exposure. I feel that falling back constantly on old favorites doesn’t do the fandom any good. So hopefully I’ll be able to help the site in that way.