IDW Publishing 2019
Written by Vita Ayala
Illustrated by Harvey Tolibao
Coloured by Joana Lafuente
Art Assists by Tristan Jurolan
Lettered by Christa Miesner
Our Story So Far...
Chandra Nalaar—Planeswalker and pyromancer—has redoubled her efforts as a protector of the Multiverse, but the same traumatic memories she seeks to avoid make her a danger to herself and others. On Innistrad, she encounters the devilish Planeswalker Tibalt, whose penchant for generating and feeding on pain pushes Chandra to her breaking point. Desperate to escape the torturous sensory overload of his attack, she Planeswalks to the emptiest place she knows…
As someone who doesn't play Magic and isn't all that familiar with it's characters, and if you look them up they have these crazy detailed backgrounds and novels out for them, I am enjoying the heck out of this. Once again I am reminded that just because something is marketed as one thing doesn't mean it's only in that zone. This is so highly reminiscent of a super hero book as Chandra has powers, she fights for the little people and has all the same emotional struggles. Seriously if you like superheroes then you'll love this!
The way that this is structured is amazingly well done they really are taking us on quite a journey through Chandra's mind, heart and soul here. The way that this comes to life before our eyes and that they manage to really bring out a nice message along the way is just that certain something which only enhances the story. The pacing is strong and with it manages to take the story & plot development and the character development and weaves them through each other always moving forward is exceptionally well done here.
The characterisation that we see here is incredibly strong and the way that we see her having to endure and go through what she does only makes the connection the reader feels with her all that much stronger. I love what Vita does here as they really make Chandra so vulnerable and yet strong willed and determined all at the same time. What she has been through and the trauma that's left, not to mention that it looks like a version of PTSD which nowadays is universally brought to our attention and it really strengthens the realism of what she's gone through.
Oh Harvey, one of the absolute best artists that you really don't know about. The man is amazing at what he does and the way he can utilise and manipulate the varying weights of the linework to bring us this level of attention to detail is just stunning. The way he's able to compose these panels with this much detail and how the eye focuses on what it needs to as well as how he utilises backgrounds as well through the perspective and how they work within the page layouts is stupendous. His eye for storytelling really is among the best there is in the industry. The colour work here is just as impressive in highlighting the linework and bringing these worlds to life. How we see light sources utilised to create shading and shadows and the overall hues and tones utilised is beyond what I could have hoped for.
This is such a strong well executed book. It has everything you could possibly ever want to see, fighting both bad guys, or beings, and her inner demons. It has a cliffhanger ending for the ages and it touches the reader. This will resonate with so many people in ways that unique to the reader and the way that they have managed to write this and convey that is utterly marvellous. People you all need to break out of your comfort zone, that you all complain about, and take a look at some stellar storytelling and the kind of book that will reignite your passion for comics.