Ash & Thorn #01
Ahoy Comics 2020
Written by Mariah McCourt
Illustrated by Soo Lee
Coloured by Pippa Bowland
Lettered by Rob Steen
The apocalypse is nigh! The world needs a Champion, and the only heir to a sacred mystical lineage is...a little old lady? Meet Lottie Thorn, reluctant savior of the world, and her also-elderly trainer Lady Peruvia Ashlington-Voss. They might not look it, but these women are prepared to take on any Big Bad that comes along. But first, perhaps a nice cup of tea? Every AHOY comic also features extra prose stories and illustrations.
Well this Buffy meets the Golden Girls and I will say I have never been more impressed with how that combination actually works. Actually I am really impressed with the whole book itself as I find it humorous, intelligent, engaging and just a pure delight to experience. Mariah has found a way to take an honest approach to the characters and that in itself is refreshing so to add into that, this whole surreal new reality that is Lottie’s life and you’ve got the makings of something incredible.
I am a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. With the opening of the book we get to see some interesting action happening and it does more than I have come to expect out of one. It definitely generates interest and draws the reader in beautifully so that we want to know more but also it does a lot to establish the character development as well. Seeing the interaction between the two women is not just delightful but it’s natural, normal and it sounds real. If you are having trouble with how I use the term “real” let me know I ill see if I can elaborate. The character development is amazing and not unjust for these two but for every character we meet. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story and its twists and turns along the way the experience is just so enjoyable. We see how all of this works together to create the books ebb & flow and highlight how well this is structured.
In another book I said that for me Soo’s work wasn’t suited for that particular story. Here we see the talent that she has on full display and I cannot get enough of it! The opening in particular with the mountain region and the river surrounded by trees and the green is so gorgeous to look at. The linework that we see is spectacular and how we see the varying weights and different techniques being utilised to create the attention to detail is marvellous. We see backgrounds a lot more than I was expecting so let’s keep that trend going because it could still benefit from more. Still what we see and how it works within the composition within the panels bring us some nice depth perception, a sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a solid eye for storytelling. The colour work is fantastic as well. I do like the colour choices we see and how the various hues and tones within the colours are utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is well rendered.
Ahoy is one of those companies that really knows what they are doing. Smart choices in the books they put out and instead of trying to food the market they have a smart, intelligent way of putting out the books they have. This one easily fits into what I have seen from the me thus far and if this continues on the way it’s started then we’re in for one of the more uniquely interesting reads.
Ahoy Comics 2020
Written by Mariah McCourt
Illustrated by Soo Lee
Coloured by Pippa Bowland
Lettered by Rob Steen
The apocalypse is nigh! The world needs a Champion, and the only heir to a sacred mystical lineage is...a little old lady? Meet Lottie Thorn, reluctant savior of the world, and her also-elderly trainer Lady Peruvia Ashlington-Voss. They might not look it, but these women are prepared to take on any Big Bad that comes along. But first, perhaps a nice cup of tea? Every AHOY comic also features extra prose stories and illustrations.
Well this Buffy meets the Golden Girls and I will say I have never been more impressed with how that combination actually works. Actually I am really impressed with the whole book itself as I find it humorous, intelligent, engaging and just a pure delight to experience. Mariah has found a way to take an honest approach to the characters and that in itself is refreshing so to add into that, this whole surreal new reality that is Lottie’s life and you’ve got the makings of something incredible.
I am a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. With the opening of the book we get to see some interesting action happening and it does more than I have come to expect out of one. It definitely generates interest and draws the reader in beautifully so that we want to know more but also it does a lot to establish the character development as well. Seeing the interaction between the two women is not just delightful but it’s natural, normal and it sounds real. If you are having trouble with how I use the term “real” let me know I ill see if I can elaborate. The character development is amazing and not unjust for these two but for every character we meet. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story and its twists and turns along the way the experience is just so enjoyable. We see how all of this works together to create the books ebb & flow and highlight how well this is structured.
In another book I said that for me Soo’s work wasn’t suited for that particular story. Here we see the talent that she has on full display and I cannot get enough of it! The opening in particular with the mountain region and the river surrounded by trees and the green is so gorgeous to look at. The linework that we see is spectacular and how we see the varying weights and different techniques being utilised to create the attention to detail is marvellous. We see backgrounds a lot more than I was expecting so let’s keep that trend going because it could still benefit from more. Still what we see and how it works within the composition within the panels bring us some nice depth perception, a sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a solid eye for storytelling. The colour work is fantastic as well. I do like the colour choices we see and how the various hues and tones within the colours are utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is well rendered.
Ahoy is one of those companies that really knows what they are doing. Smart choices in the books they put out and instead of trying to food the market they have a smart, intelligent way of putting out the books they have. This one easily fits into what I have seen from the me thus far and if this continues on the way it’s started then we’re in for one of the more uniquely interesting reads.
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