Noe’s Comics Nook: Step by Bloody Step: A Wordless Fantasy

Review

Comics are most often defined as a medium that plays with the intersections of words and pictures. So expected is this interplay that when you come across a comic that all but ignores words, it raises so many questions! The comics scholars out there could (and have) spend hundreds of pages arguing over the definition and if these works even count; let’s just say that I believe they do. In fact, when well done, wordless comics can show us the best of what the medium can offer (Shaun Tan’s The Arrival comes to mind here). With Step by Bloody Step, Spurrier, Bergara, and Lopes have tapped into that magic and produced a masterpiece.

The story follows the journey of a young girl and her armored chaperone giant as they make their way across the world, crossing jungles, rivers, deserts, and everything in between. The reason for their journey remains a mystery throughout the book, with new clues arriving along the way, but one thing is clear: they cannot turn back. Each attempt to turn around is met with a wall of air that pushes them forward. Almost like time must march on in a way…

During the journey, we meet other members of the world – from families simply trying to survive, to enemies that make clear why this young girl needs such a huge protector, to the wealthy, technologically advanced, aggressive people of an unnamed citadel. The young girl grows into a young woman and we get to see it before our eyes thanks to the mesmerizing artwork of Bergara. Lopes’ color work here is Eisner-worthy. It sets the tone of each rise and fall and keeps the focus on our main characters, building our emotional attachment. There is a page about a third of the way through the comic where the young girl sees the ocean for what appears to be the first time. The pure joy shines through as if you were truly there with a young child. If that doesn’t make you immediately want to shelter them, I don’t know what would.

Step by Bloody Step is a gorgeous, nearly wordless fantasy comics masterpiece.

Elements of Story

Plot: A young girl and her armored chaperone giant journey across a range of dramatic landscapes, encountering new challenges and people, learning along the way – and with no way to turn back.

Major Characters: The Girl; The Giant

Major Settings: Wilds of different environments (jungles, beaches, tundra); Technological capital city

Themes: Family; Honor; Environment

Lesson Plan Idea Using Common Core Standards (CCS)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.3– Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

Directions: Step by Bloody Step is the story of a girl and guardian on an epic journey across a fantastical world. A journey they must take, for going backwards proves impossible. In fact, over the course of the book it begins to seem that this journey is inevitable, and yet its conclusion remains precarious as they face new challenges.

1.       Students should read Step by Bloody Step twice. The first time, reading as they wish from beginning to end at their own pace. The second time, they should read with an eye to the ebb and flow of the story, making notes in preparation for analysis.

2.       Chart the arc of the story, noting key moments for the development of characters, the plot, and the settings.

3.       Analyze, using examples from the text (visuals), how the authors integrated the stories and settings across the book to tell the story. Do you see other paths they could have taken that may have changed the trajectory of the story? That may have changed how you felt about each character? Seek to include at least one example from each of the comics’ original issues (think of them as chapters) and aim for 4 to 5 pages that offer insight into the construction of the story.