You may or may not know the name Doug TenNapel, but just in case you do not, he is the creator of Earthworm Jim, a very popular video game character from the 90’s that was an earthworm in a super-hero suit. Even if you do not know Earthworm Jim, this will quickly catch you up to speed with the type of creator TenNapel is: a very strange one indeed! I will be perfectly honest, I did not jump aboard the TenNapel until a few years ago, but in that time I have devoured plenty of his titles like Iron West, Bad Island and the recently released Cardboard, easily becoming one of my favorite creators.

After last year’s success of his first webcomic Ratfist, TenNapel recently started up his second go into the digital medium, this time immersing the reader into the adventurous world of some very clever Nnewts (that second “n” is very important, just like in TenNapel’s name). The story follows Gullimar, the provider for his family and village, and head of a hunting party who is tasked to provide food for the community. After a brief introduction by an old and wise storyteller, attention is shifted to Gullimar’s home life, which shows one of his youngsters trying to move out of his little crib pond into the big world by getting his legs strong enough to join his parents on dry land. In through the door comes stumbling the comedic relief to the story, the bumbling hunting party that make you fall in love with them quicker than you did with John Goodman (admit it, he is f’ing awesome).

If you were to ask me what my favorite part about TenNapel’s stories is, I would have a truly hard time picking. The man has a gift for creating quirky and original characters that instantly remind you of the uncannily charming qualities of your best friends and loved ones, pulling you immediately into the narrative. His art style is gorgeous, often very thick, inky lines that are perfect for building a dangerous or dramatic scene, or effortlessly (or so it seems) streaming emotion across a character’s face so you can easily empathize immediately with them and the situation. Although it is a rather new comic at the time I am writing this, Nnewts has all the making’s to be yet another great read from TenNapel.

Expect a new page every week, and if all goes well, look for it to be collected into print in the same way Ratfist was. But hey, jump on early and read it for free . . . heck, if you are a parent, grab the kid and read a new page with them every week!

——————————————————————
When John is not busy putting off real life responsibilities so he can tell the gal in the pit to put the lotion on it’s skin or it get’s the hose again, he is blabbing on mindlessly about comics on the Burnt Weiners Comic Book Podcast. He makes a hobby out of knowing next to nothing about comics, but loving them all the same. We strongly discourage you from checking out Burntweiners.com. They cannot even spell “wieners” correctly.