Book review: Pulling traditional legends into the modern world, ‘Chickaloonies 2′ is a giant leap forward

“Chickaloonies 2: Watering Ways”

Dimi Macheras and Casey Silver; 80% Studios, 2024; 268 pages; $39.99

“You locked away your stories,” Drasco, a bear warrior who is a central character in “Chickaloonies 2: Watering Ways,” tells the mayor and citizens of a post-apocalyptic Palmer, Alaska. “You locked away your language, you locked away your culture. You’ve severed the source of your strength.”

Pointing at the exhibits in a shuttered Ahtna cultural center, Drasco continues, “These items are not meant to be locked away. They are alive!”

It’s the pivotal scene in a story that hinges on the recovery of culture as a means of overcoming challenges. In this action-packed fantasy story set in a Palmer that has been laid to waste by giant flying creatures called “moose-quitoes,” the challenge is getting to the source where the plague of monstrous insects is hatching from, and finding a way of stopping them. This will require looking finding guidance in the accumulated lore of the Ahtna.

“Chickaloonies,” an Alaska Native-rooted graphic novel series, is the brainchild of Dimi Macheras and Casey Silver. Macheras grew up in Chickaloon, enthralled by the traditional stories his late grandmother, revered elder Katherine Wade, and his late mother Patricia Wade — both Ahtna culture bearers — told him in his childhood. Growing up, he aided his mother in her work by illustrating the legends she preserved. Silver, originally from Rhode Island, is a talented artist and storyteller himself. Macheras and Silver share a comics partnership called 80% Studios, and “Chickaloonies” is their flagship work.

The first volume in the series, “First Frost,” was published in 2021 and introduced the primary characters. Sasquatch E. Moji is a 13-year-old behemoth of a child who speaks solely in emojis. Mister Yelly, a year younger and considerably smaller, is a bit of a scamp who depends on his older pal in a pinch but isn’t lacking in bravery himself.

The opening tale, which was fairly brief, took place in Chickaloon Village at a time when light had gone from the sky. It ended with Moji and Yelly, counseled by their grandmother, embarking on a quest atop a berry-powered snowmachine named Boba to find their missing cousin Vally. It was a brief and fun little fantasy, well-conceived with expressive and colorful manga-inspired art, but it merely set the stage.

“Watering Ways” is a giant leap forward for Macheras and Silver. It’s significantly longer and far more ambitious than its predecessor. The story opens with Moji and Yelly crossing a snow-covered landscape under a darkened sky as they come across ice creatures standing rigidly in a valley with human forms contained within them. Frightened by the sight, they hurriedly make for Palmer, where they find the city all but shut down. Quickly they learn of the moose-quitoes — giant, flying moose-mosquito hybrids spreading an unknown sickness among the residents — and are drawn into the mystery of where the creatures come from and how to combat them.

After encountering a storyteller named Baca, they visit Drasco for help finding their cousin. Initially reluctant, though not for long, Drasco instead sends them on their way and they return to the besieged Palmer. There these four and other key players assemble, and the story takes form as Moji and Yelly join in the quest to defeat the moose-quitoes.

“Watering Ways” is a standalone episode within the broader story arc of the series. It’s a fast-paced adventure that weaves Ahtna legends into an action-packed quest to save Palmer from the insect infestation that has overrun the town. It’s a tale filled with excitement, humor, entertaining characters, conflicts, camaraderie and a welcoming spirit that will appeal not just to the young readers who will make up its primary audience, but also to adults looking for a good yarn to escape into.

Macheras and Silver share both writing and artistic duties, which leads to a strong fusion of imagery and words. Often, and especially toward the end, the artwork alone tells the story. As artists, the duo use manga as their launching point, but their style reaches well beyond the form. Their use of deep colors creates a mood perfectly suited for the events occurring on the page. Echoes of the seminal 1960s and 1970s work of famed Marvel and DC artist Jack Kirby also surface subtly in a few panels, tastefully so and not as mimicry, connecting the duo’s work to the long, storied history of American comics.

“Chickaloonies” is a lot of fun, and it’s instructive along the way. Macheras and Silver draw from Ahtna lore to create an Alaska Native epic of their own. Stories passed through generations surface throughout the two books, offering key insight at critical points as the plot line unfolds. This knowledge is central to the narrative, and by including it, Macheras carries forward the work of his mother and grandmother, updating and adding to a tradition of oral literature and making it vibrant for modern readers.

The duo are working as part of a collective of Alaska comics producers operating under the name Luk’ae Tse’ Taas Comics (Fish Head Soup Comics) that is focused on bringing both Alaska themes and Native cultures to the world of graphic fiction. As a work geared toward younger readers, the “Chickaloonies” series is the most accessible of those being produced and provides an easy entry point for readers just getting acquainted with the shared universe that the creators are contributing to. It’s a new direction for Alaska arts and literature, and as this book makes clear, its potential is only beginning to be explored.

[With the Luk’ae Tse’ Taas Comics collective, Alaska visual artists help build a broader universe]

“When you embark on the journey of rediscovering the knowledge of your culture, listen for the voices of the ancestors,” Macheras and Silver write in a brief afterword to the book. “And remember the watering ways, as a beacon to help you find your way back home.” It’s the perfect coda for “Chickaloonies 2,” which pulls traditional legends into the modern world and crafts something at once both deeply rooted and intriguingly new.