Review: Rainbows and Rainclouds

If you’re looking for a cute, self-contained webcomic then Rainbows and Rainclouds might be just for you.

Created by Kiriska as part of her senior project at SCAD, Rainbows and Rainclouds is a 40 page webcomic about a young child and a

dicorn friend who are trying to figure out where the rain clouds have gone, now that there’s a drought in the meadows. One of the more interesting aspects of Rainbows and Rainclouds is that it’s all pantomime – which means there’s no dialogue. All the characters communicate through thought bubbles filled with either pictures, exclamation points or even music notes.

And since I’ve never read anything quite like this, it took me awhile to figure out what was being “said” but eventually I got used to it. In many ways, a pantomime style offered a chance for more visual storytelling. Often my biggest gripe with comics (in general) is the over reliance on dialogue to convey everything and while pantomime wouldn’t work for every comic, it definitely works for this one.

Rainbows and Rainclouds begins with our young, nameless hero(ine) who is greeted by a giant, blue bird with a note that requires the child’s immediate attention. When our protagonist reaches the meadows – which seems to be an alternate world – s/he learns that for months that hasn’t been any rain, and so the plants began to die. Apparently the plants produced musical notes that the unicorns would eat, but dying plants weren’t producing beautiful music so the unicorns died as well. Now the young child and the dicorn (who can turn into both a horse and a small child) venture off discover what happened to the rain clouds in order to save the meadows.

Aside from the very adorable plot, the art and coloring for Rainbows and Rainclouds is really lovely and in a similar vein to my response to JL8, the style is very simplistic. It’s not drawn as an overly realistic story, instead focusing on the fantastical, fun aspects of it.

Rainbows and Rainclouds is a story for all ages, and is available in hardcover as well as PDF – so it’s something you can also enjoy with your kids or friends who prefer more child-friendly literature. This is a great adventure for anyone who enjoys griffins, mermaids, magic and children saving the day!