Image Comics 2017
Created & Written by Seth M. Peck
Created & Illustrated by Jeremy Haun
Coloured by Nick Filardi
Lettered & Designed by Thomas Mauer
I talk about strong openings and how important they are to attract readers. We live in a society where people need immediate gratification unfortunately so the opening is even more important and what Seth and Jeremy deliver is the goods. Seeing Eldritch testing out the powers he’s been granted and that smile with the nosebleed yeah it’s creepy as hell. It also sets him up as someone to watch out for as things move forward. Also the characterisation that we get about him through the eyes of the council should tell you so much more about what he’s like and who he is. I like that he comes across so deliciously evil with plans of his own that more than likely mean betraying the one who gave him such power to begin with. This man, Eldritch, is evil personified.
Meanwhile we see how the merry band of travellers are being brought together. As Marcus has his man, Will Nolan, to lead the expedition while Molly tries to insert herself into the dynamic Seth does some great characterisation. I like how the focus shifts around the group in such a natural flow that it never feels forced or obligatory, so we see each character. I’m pretty beyond impressed with what Seth is bringing to us here and I can see how some characters with their belief’s are a liability and yet they are also the ones who surprise us the most.
With the Orcs arrival and subsequent fall of society there are still pockets out there willing to risk their lives to destroy the invaders. So while we don’t get an official introduction to him y’all had me at ginger. I cannot wait to see how fits into all this and if he will be friend or foe. I’m hoping the former because there’s something about a big ginger bear that is exciting to see, more so when we see the clear pleasure he takes in killing orcs.
I do like the interiors here. Jeremy’s eye for storytelling has never been better, and that’s saying something. I think when the backgrounds are in play the story seems so much larger and fuller and the detail he puts into them is utterly fantastic. The buildings or the makeshift camp made of campers and buses it seems to just really give you that post apocalyptic feel that comes from the widespread devastation. Page layouts with their angles and perspective are so well done as to almost give a cinematic quality to it.
There are so many different plots going on here and none of them feel contradictory to one another they have that they are going to intersect at some point feel. At the moment however they each kind of flesh out different aspects of what this world is about and what the group travelling is going to have to face. Of course Orcs are all over and it isn’t going to take long before they are ambushed anyway regardless of who they have with them.
As cliché as this sounds the best line in the book is “follow me if you want to live” and it would have made the perfect final panel of this issue. There are two more but I do wish that the kid saying that was the last thing we saw this issue.
The imagination and creativity we see is only as equal to the talent on display here and that’s mighty impressive indeed. The Realm mixes a Dungeons & Dragons quality story pitting humans and Orcs in a seemingly never ending battle. The plot, story and character development here surpasses any and all expectations and the interiors just make things picture perfect.