Inkling

Inkling is a sentient ink splotch who coalesces from the many drawings in Peter’s sketchbook. Once he breaks free of the sketchbook and becomes his own entity, Inkling usually looks like a black ink splotch, but he can transform into any shape. He can see and hear anything in the real world but cannot perceive or absorb any information from screens. Instead of talking aloud, Inkling writes to communicate.

In the beginning, Inkling struggles to communicate. He uses drawings because he does not yet have enough of a vocabulary to communicate directly. As Inkling eats more books, his self-expression improves. His only flaw is his tendency to copy the style of the book that he has most recently eaten. By the middle of the story, Inkling has developed his own way of writing, which is a conglomeration of the styles he has absorbed from different books.

Inkling loves comics, but Ethan stops giving them to him because they make him too hyperactive. Still, comics make Inkling braver and more curious about the world outside Ethan’s room. Inkling is very kind and helpful. He loves drawing and helping others, especially Peter, Ethan, and Sarah. He understands deeper emotional issues and listens to Ethan’s problems, but because he has a unique link to Peter’s most secret thoughts, he also explains Peter’s feelings to Ethan. In a way, Inkling holds the parts of Peter that Ethan needs because Peter is too depressed to help his son directly. Throughout the story, Inkling’s primary aim is to find something to help the family. Eventually, he discovers Olivia’s letter to Peter and shares it with them. In the end, Inkling also sacrifices himself to save the family from Blotter. Inkling’s sacrifice is another blow to the Rylance family, particularly Ethan. However, Inkling’s sacrifice shows how much Inkling became a “someone instead of a something” (47).

Peter Rylance is the father of both Ethan and Sarah, and he is also the famous creator of the popular Kren comic book series. Illustrations portray him as a bearded man with a touch of gray who often wears glasses. His hair color is somewhere between Ethan’s darker hair and Sarah’s lighter hair. Despite his public reputation as a brilliant artist and writer, Peter is mostly defined by his depression. Since his wife Olivia died, Peter has been drowning in guilt and grief and has had writer’s block for two years. Sometimes, his depression makes it difficult for him to even get out of bed. Throughout most of the novel, Peter is struggling to just barely scrape by in life, often appearing to Ethan and Sarah as “Grumpy Dad” (27), and Ethan takes over many of the daily adult responsibilities that Peter neglects to handle, such as taking care of Sarah.

Inkling provides some relief for Peter by helping him with his work and reducing his stress. Soon after this development, Peter starts taking a more active role in caring for the family and begins to interact more with Ethan and Sarah. However, Inkling’s help cannot solve everything. Peter still struggles to finish things independently and relies on Inkling to complete his work. However, Peter’s character undergoes a significant change for the better after he finds and reads Olivia’s last note to him. Her words ease some of Peter’s guilt as he realizes that she understood his feelings. He finally confesses to Ethan that he was not present at the moment of Olivia’s death and admits the heavy burden of guild that he carries as a result. By the end of the story, Peter becomes a more engaged parent. The true moment of this shift occurs when he opens the sketchbook at Inkling’s request, saving Ethan from guilt or responsibility as both Inkling and Blotter are engulfed by the sketchbook. In the end, Peter’s transformation highlights the importance of facing and understanding one’s emotions and the significance of genuine parental involvement.

Sarah Rylance is a nine-year-old girl with Down syndrome who has light hair and strong opinions. Sarah has a unique way of talking “about herself in the third person […] It made whatever she said sound like a story, with herself as the hero” (10). This tendency also creates the impression that Sarah is observing her life rather than living it. Sarah is primarily a cheerful child, but she can be very demanding. She loves doing the same things repeatedly, like playing vet with Ethan. Every stuffed animal in her game has a skinned knee, needing thorough cleaning, bandaging, and a heart check. Her love for repetition can irritate Peter, who states, “This is making me crazy... It’s like she’s stuck” (88).

Ethan’s observation is not far from the truth, for Sarah can only physically go where Ethan or Peter take her. Because they are both dealing with their problems, Sarah ends up doing the same things every day. Eventually, however, a trip to the park with Peter breaks this cycle, introducing new experiences and stories for Sarah. As the novel unfolds, Sarah starts using the first person and creating new stories for herself, and this pattern accelerates when Peter brings her a dog and opens her up to a world of fresh experiences. These new adventures replace some of her old routines. For instance, although she used to avoid Rickman after he once scratched her, Lucy’s presence allows her to forgets that and treat Rickman kindly. Like the rest of the Rylance family, Sarah grows and gets unstuck thanks to Inkling’s influence. Ultimately, Sarah’s journey shows how embracing new experiences can break old routines and bring positive changes.

Vika, a sixth-grade girl and a talented artist, is Karl Worthington’s daughter and Ethan’s nemesis. The bad blood between Ethan and Vika starts when she mocks his stick figures, and he retaliates by mentioning that even Peter thinks she is a lousy artist. This argument climaxes when Vika kicks Ethan into a full trash can, and the two regard each other as enemies after this encounter. In school, Vika takes every chance to tease Ethan about his art. However, she admires Peter and dreams of becoming even half as good an artist as he is. Vika aims to work for her dad’s company and is jealous of Ethan’s bond with Peter. As Ethan states, “Vika might not quite be a supervillain, but she was definitely an archenemy” (18).

Beneath her jealousy, Vika wrestles with more significant worries. Karl’s company faces financial collapse, and even their home is at risk after two years of poor sales. Desperate to assist her dad, Vika discovers Inkling while spying on Peter. She kidnaps Inkling, hoping that the splotch’s creations will rescue Karl’s company. While Vika’s actions may be morally questionable, her motives are understandable. She is therefore a complex character, and her complexities are further emphasized when she is sweet to Sarah despite being unkind to Ethan. Vika therefore embodies a morally ambiguous character, for although she engages in immoral acts like spying and stealing, her acts of wrongdoing have definite limits, and she has a much stronger moral compass than her father does. When Inkling is in danger, Vika breaks her father’s trust to aid Ethan in saving him. She also protects Inkling from Blotter. As the story unfolds, Vika transforms from a primary antagonist to almost a friend, and the story concludes with Vika and Ethan being kind to one another. Ultimately, Vika’s character illustrates the fact that people can change for the better, and her reconciliation with Ethan shows that animosity can sometimes transform into friendship when understanding and shared goals prevail.

Karl Worthington is the founder and owner of Prometheus Comix, which publishes Peter Rylance’s books. Karl is a mustachioed man with the beginnings of male pattern baldness, which he tries to hide with a slight combover. At the story’s beginning, Karl is assertive but not menacing, but by the end, he reveals himself to be a genuine villain. Facing dwindling sales after Peter’s two-year creative hiatus, Karl urges Peter to continue the Kren series or to imitate the style of a top-selling “trash” comic. Even though Peter declines, Karl maintains a veneer of friendliness until he discovers Inkling. Inkling’s talents trigger Karl’s greed, leading him to say, “We both need Inkling... But the brutal truth is, we don’t really need you anymore. Now that we have Inkling” (198). Karl therefore serves as a representation of the exploitative nature of the publishing industry, for he prioritizes his profits over the artists and their work. While he is kind to Peter when doing so serves his own purposes, Karl swiftly discards Peter when he finds a substitute for the artist’s innate talents.

When Karl imprisons and abuses Inkling for his own ends, his harsh treatment of both Inkling and Blotter paints him as a villain. For example, he withholds food from Inkling because Inkling refuses to draw, and he feeds Blotter low-quality comics despite their harmful impact on Blotter’s personality. Karl even mutilates Blotter without concern for the splotch’s well-being. In his endless pursuit of profits, Karl overlooks the fact that both Inkling and Blotter are sentient beings who deserve care and respect. In classic comic book style, while Blotter is defeated, Karl’s fate remains uncertain, with three more ink blots hinting at potential problems in the future. Ultimately, Karl underscores the moral dangers of prioritizing profits over people, and Oppel portrays him as a cautionary figure in the publishing world.

Blotter stands as Inkling’s foil and a key antagonist. Blotter emerges when a piece of Inkling is accidentally severed and subsequently corrupted by a “diet” of violent, low-quality comics. His violent, unpredictable nature is illustrated by his large size and sharp reddish tint. In contrast to Inkling’s diverse taste in books and art, Blotter exclusively consumes violent and badly drawn comics, and this poor diet negatively affects his personality and his communication style. Blotter rarely writes complete sentences, and his spelling is terrible. Even Inkling recognizes their many differences, stating that Blotter “couldn’t have been more different from him” (202). Their drawing styles further highlight this distinction, for although “Inkling was careful and seemed to think about every line, […] Blotter was like a garbage truck rumbling down the street, with refuse flying out the back” (203).

With his tendency to mass-produce violent and splashy content, Blotter becomes a publisher’s dream. As the story progresses, he consistently churns out comics that just barely manage to skirt plagiarism laws. Unfazed by the fact that Blotter’s work is “violent and crudely drawn” and “embarrassingly dull-witted and boring” (213), Karl prioritizes quantity over quality and abandons his morals in pursuit of profits, turning Blotter into a true monster. His mistreatment of Blotter contrasts sharply with Ethan’s thoughtful care of Inkling, and the contrast between the two splotch’s personalities reflects this difference in “upbringing.” Blotter thinks nothing of eating Inkling or suffocating Ethan, for Karl has never taught him that there is an inherent value to all life. Blotter therefore poses a significant threat to Inkling and the Rylance family, showcasing the potential consequences of neglect and mistreatment. While Blotter is an antagonist, the stark difference in his behavior compared to Inkling’s implies that his actions stem from the content he has so voraciously consumed. This dynamic suggests that Blotter might have turned out differently with proper care. In this way, Oppel emphasizes the impact of nurturing versus neglect.