A man-made child returns home to take a dangerous gamble in the colony’s darker days.
It’s quickly revealed this is mostly a flashback issue to early events. It serves to answer some of the questions which came after reading the first issue. After being left alone when guards took Ivan back to the Colony, Sena because the leader of the animals resistance. The keeper made of smoke guarding Ivan is a curse. Sean’s curse to be exact which is why the curse looks so much like her. Kazbek is a titular evil character but seems to have a soft side which is shown with how he treats Aldebaran. The issue ends with another flashback story showing the Chancellor giving Sena a test when she was still with Ivan.
The story is incredibly emerging. It feels like the kind of story Emma Rios and Hwei Lim have been wanting to tell for a while. Though it says it takes place in the 8houses universe the story feels independent and seems like it’s building to something bigger. Originally it was supposed to be only four issues long but the Image website said the first issue was the start of a new “ongoing series .” Hopefully it keeps going because it seems like a potential goldmine for fascinating stories.
The art is the weaker point to the comic but only to a certain extent. It’s not bad, the character designs and visuals are unique and distinctive. Still the water color style it employs does kind of make the more intense scenes of drama seem soft and not as powerful. There is a moment with two armies going head to head with one another but the art doesn’t convey a sense of action. Yet when the moments are soft, sad, or when any panel employs more background, the art really seems to pop. It’s the kind of art where you actually wish the artist would employ more two page splashes so you can become more immersed in the scenery.
This comic is incredible and is fills a void which was left from last year’s ending of the series Fables. If you are a fan of great storytelling and anthropomorphized characters then check this series out. Hopefully if enough people buy it, the story will keep going for more than simply four issues.
