Why I Read: Bata Neart

Hi, everybody.  It’s Delta-v again and I’ve got a new webcomic for you, but this one’s different, different.  I’d heard of “Magical Girl”  stories before, but since I’m neither magical, nor a girl, I sort of ignored them.

Then I read this really great Magical Girl parody (still reading, actually–it isn’t over), and I wondered if I’d been missing something, so I read a few that took themselves seriously,  but alas, I’m still not the right demographic. However, when I saw an ad about an Irish Magical Girl story,  I decided to see what the Irish were up to Magical Girl-wise.

There were some of the expected memes and themes–really cute girl who’s kind of a loner (check) with a really cute friend who’s kind of eccentric (check), girls school, or the like (check), an antagonist (check), a magical staff that can and has killed hundreds of people (chec…wait, what?).  Okay, this is different.  Author and artist Mark Egan liked the idea, so let’s go see what Bata Neart is all about.

Synopsis:

The story begins about fifteen hundred years ago in ancient Ireland during a battle between the forces of Munster and Leinster.  The war becomes a struggle between the War-priests on each side, and the one with the staff I’ve been talking about loses, the staff falls into a river, and is swept away.

Fast-forward to the present, as Ashling Connolly and her aforementioned eccentric friend Aoife (“ee-fa”, we are told) are on a school outing to a nearby National Park with the rest of their class from the boarding school they attend.

The girls are given the freedom to roam the area, and Ashling finds the staff–actually it would be more accurate to say that the staff finds Ashling.

The staff gives Ashling new abilities–usually without warning–and gives her a greater sensitivity to the spirit realm, including the ability to see and interact with spirits, which turns out to be a bit of a mixed blessing, to say the least.  All this activity attracts the ire of Sharon Connors, the school’s Athletic Director, who was in charge the day that Ashling wandered off and found the staff, and seems to feel that all the alarms and excursions generated by that event reflected negatively on her.  The  whole “dealing with ghosts” thing set her off even more, and now she seems to be going out of her way to give Ashling and Aoife extra scrutiny, just waiting for them to step out of line again.

With the help of Fiona, one of the other students, but one who apparently actually paid attention in history class, and Fiona’s new boyfriend, John, Ashling decides to test the staff.  It becomes quite the voyage of discovery.  When John tries to touch the staff, they discover that it doesn’t like males. When Fiona tries to share an insight, they discover that the staff likes to keep it’s secrets.   When Ashling tries to use the staff, they discover that it doesn’t understand English.

When Ashling uses the staff while speaking Gaelic, they discover that the dang thing is DANGEROUS!

How I Found It:

I clicked on a Project Wonderful ad, don’t remember on which comic.  You can also find Bata Neart on Facebook, Twitter, Deviant Art and Google Plus.

Why I Like It:

It’s very well written with believable characters who react in a believable fashion to unusual situations–always a good start–and Mark has created some very winsome people in the process.  Ashling is introspective, thoughtful, sweet, and trustworthy.  Aoife is a bubbly ball of chaotic , good-natured energy, the kind of person you can’t stay angry at no matter how irritating she has been.  Her cheerful mischievous antics are a perfect counterbalance to keep Ashling from brooding.  She’s also the main source of comedy relief to keep the comic from getting too dark (killer staff–remember?).  If you’ve never had someone like her in your life, I feel sorry for you.  If you are someone like her, thank you–you’re sorely needed these days.

Other character will come along, but for right now the supporting cast is rather small.  Fiona, the historian is still researching the staff, so she’ll be back.  John, her boyfriend, probably won’t for obvious reasons, but he had some good lines while he was here.  Ashling’s mother Rebecca is even three-dimensional in her brief appearance, and she’ll be back later.  Even Ms Connors,the Athletic Director who’s apparently auditioning to be the “Nemesis” has reasons for her actions.

It didn’t take long for me to become personally involved with the story, and to start caring about the characters–things I look for in any story I read or watch.

The art style is black and white, in a form of manga that is spare, with clean lines, and a lot of greyscale shading, which I like because it’s easier on my poor old eyes.  While Mark uses manga as a base, he’s been adding his own touches, and, in my opinion, making his characters more realistic.  I’m always more interested in the story being told than the artwork being used to tell it, but Mark’s art compliments the story nicely, and it’s been fun watching him improve and gain confidence.  Disclaimer:  Mark redrew the first few chapters, so we’re only seeing the last three years of increasing skill, and not the whole ten or so–but it’s still impressive to behold.

I also liked the balance of humor and drama.  The more I see Aoife, the better I like her.

This would be a good spot to discuss the nudity in Bata Neart, because there is some.  Now before you get your hackles up (or hopes, depending on who you are) the nudity is of the more-suggested-than-overt variety, outlines only with no details.  Most of it takes place either in dream sequences or spirit activity, although in the pages that cover the war, there are unclad women warriors.  It certainly doesn’t move the comic out of the PG-13 range.

What Could Be Better:

I had some trouble with the Archives when I was looking for images to share with you, as there’s no quick way to get to a particular page, but that’s all I found that Mark wasn’t already working on without any prompting from anyone.

Final Thoughts:

I have just enough Irish blood to be proud about it (about 1/8), so I may be a little biased, but since I like to see someone take a familiar theme, add their own twist to it then develop it, and since Mark has done such a good job of that, I wholeheartedly recommend this comic to anyone who is looking for a really well done, interesting read.

There are two things I’d like to ask of you if you decide to give Bata Neart a try.  Unless you’re a comic creator yourself, you might not realize just how much a comment means, so please take the time (and a little extra effort) and say hello.  The other thing, and you should know me well enough by now to guess, but please vote for Bata Neart on TWC.  I’ll even give you a handy link here.