Wake up > commute > work > commute > home. Repeat.

The drudgery of your daily life matches the drudgery of everyone else’s.

But if you’re lucky…you just might meet a pigeon.

“A super-charming interactive comic…with options that are sometimes expected, often poignant, and sometimes absurd.”

Pigeon of Destiny is a super-charming interactive comic. Comics writer/artist Julia Hutchinson places you in New York City, “joining the crowds in the street, one in a city of millions.” Your big-city isolation and anonymity is challenged one day, when you encounter a pigeon huddled on the sidewalk.

And thus your adventure(s) begins.

Like every good quest, the heroine faces a series of challenges. Since this is in the model of a “choose-your-own-adventure”, Hutchinson presents you with options that are sometimes expected, often poignant, and sometimes absurd. The choice is sometimes super easy (oh, I would never do that! Well, maybe not this time…) and sometimes a little odd (Pigeon! You will speak to me!). And sometimes you just might find yourself facing an odd dilemma: should I engage a group of pigeons in debate or should I chase healthy ones away and buy a sick one some Hawaiian pizza? Hmmm…

“Drawn in black/white/graytone…those pigeons are full of emotion and personality…They steal every scene they’re in.”

Books like these depend heavily on character, and from the very first panel, Hutchinson cleverly makes you identify with the nameless protagonist trying to catch her bus. The initial dialogue about the anonymity and isolation of city living is reinforced in the art of Pigeon of Destiny. You can see the social isolation, even in the panels illustrating the crowds of NYC. There are very few human interactions here. It’s almost entirely between your avatar and the pigeons.

But those pigeons! They steal every scene they’re in. These are pigeons who know stuff. Drawn in black/white/graytone, they are full of emotion and personality and are a stark contrast to the dull faceless humans who occupy the rest of the sidewalk. The more you flip though the pages, the more adorable these birds become. You may never look at a pigeon (or your fellow humans) they same way again.

At 40 pages and with eleven possible endings, this is a fairly short book. The individual storylines are quite concise, and that’s the unfortunate part. Who knew interactions with pigeons could be so much fun? Hopefully Hutchinson will create another interactive comic starring the characters from this book. After all, a long commute home is much more interesting when you get to hang out with a friendly pigeon.

Pigeon of Destiny
Julia Hutchinson (writer, artist)
Purchase directly from the creator: juliahutshop.etsy.com

Pigeon of Destiny

9.5

Writing

9.5/10

Art

9.5/10