The Webcomics Weekly is back in your life and asking you to appreciate the insects in your life. Say hello to the local ladybug. Say howdy to the neighborhood katydid. Say good morning to the nearby moth. It’s time to embrace and love all those tiny little things.
Pia & The Little Tiny Things
Pages 59 – 230
Updates: Tuesdays & Thursdays
By Clover
Reviewed by Elias Rosner
Since I last reviewed “Pia & The Little Tiny Things” the comic has gotten both a makeover and a new title! I probably made a comment like that back in my 2022 Year in Review write-up but eh. Who can remember that far back? Not me, apparently.
For those who also don’t remember what “Pia & the Little Tiny Things” is about, it’s a quiet drama about Pia and their small town. More accurately, it’s the small town they moved into after their grandmother died. Pia’s past is a bit of a mystery, though by this point in the comic we’ve learned the contours of their life before Joiville. The same is true of Emile, the elementary school teacher and Pia’s first friend, who seems to hide a great sadness behind his bubbly exterior (and wonderful schnoz).
I hadn’t realized just how much Clover had covered since I reviewed this last. I mean, it’s nearly 200 more pages so, duh, of course there’d be more. But in this time they’ve introduced a host of new characters, all of which feel like they’ve been in the comic since the start. There’s Noëlle, the local fishmonger, and her son Edou. Olivia, the snooty semi-recluse with a heart of silver. Mr. Rio, the gym teacher with a real knack for stepping in it when it comes to Emile. Ms. Courtois, who’s “About” bio is maybe my favorite…ever? “Dangerous. Will gossip. ((Do not feed.))” Oh, and Soot, the cat. Kittttyyyyy.
I realize this review is a bit all over the place but that’s half the mood “Pia & the Little Tiny Things” crafts. It’s full of small, intimate moments of joy and pain and comfort and joy and fear and you can’t help but be swept up in it. To be carried on the wind through its pages, imagining oneself with these people, learning about them and in turn having them learn about you. It is pastoral, in a way. Romantic, in others. There is plot, there is momentum. It often takes a backseat to the more important job of watching Clover draw these wonderful, weird, rude, mean, hurt, scared, joyous people as they emote and act and live.
Chapter 6 is perhaps their most ambitious in all respects, from the paneling to the plotting to the character depths being plumbed and so far it’s paying off in spades. It opens on Pia having a joyous day of playing video games in preparation for Emile & Noëlle to visit. Only, they can’t make it, and we’re not sure why. Cut to Ms. Courtois, who we only really know as the local nuisance, watching TV. Clover then takes us through a rollercoaster of a ride with this lonely old lady, utilizing every aspect of the comic to clue us into the thoughts and feelings of these characters. Of how the smallest comments, the tiniest gestures, the most miniscule looks belie an ocean of feelings.
We see this through the curl of a word balloon around an arm, through the juxtaposition between a look of disdain and then a page of meticulous preparation, through a careless word and a returned barb pushes characters apart, each trying to recross the distance but somehow only finding themselves farther and farther away.
And that’s all in the first 10 or so pages of what is, so far, a nearly 80 page chapter. It only gets better, though certainly heavier, as it goes on. I envy cartooning like this. Truly, truly, Clover is a deft talent that has had years to grow and this is the result of that growth. Fluid motion, emotive characters, exquisite comedic and dramatic timing, and a pace that is leisurely but focused. I implore you all to give “Pia and the Little Tiny Things” a read. Though, I warn you, the cliffhangers right now are hard to bear. Rest assured, it will be worth the agony.
