Titan Comics 2021
Written by Anne Toole
Story by Ben McCaw
Illustrated by Elmer Damaso
Coloured by Bryan Valenza
Lettered by Jim Campbell
While pursuing Korl across the mountains, Erend began to tell Aloy the epic story of his sister Ersa. When the two siblings fought against the Carja during the Red Raids, she was taken captive and thrown in the deadly Sun Ring. After a desperate battle, she became the only Oseram to ever survive the ordeal…
One of the things I’m really enjoying about this is that Aloy sees this a marathon while Erend sees it as a sprint. While they are both somewhat correct they are both somewhat wrong and rushing too quickly isn't going to get them to Korl faster though it may get them killed by leaping before they look. On the flip side of that coin, waiting too long or letting him get too far ahead will allow Korl to be better prepared for the ensuing confrontation. So while there is no right or wrong answer here I do like that Aloy keeps Erend somewhat distracted with the tale of his sister while the pair chase after him. It really is a smart move on her part and I appreciate the subtlety involved in what she’s doing.
I am very much enjoying 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 exceedingly well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances says a lot about who they are as people. The pacing is super and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story we begin to see why Erend has such a hardon for this guy.
I think the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen is extremely well done. I like how these layers contain the characterisation, the plot twists and the backstory so that each of these adds its own depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is beautifully achieved.
The interior artwork here is stunningly gorgeous. The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised or create this level & quality of detail within the work throughout the issue is astounding. That we see backgrounds as we do and how they enhance and expand the moments does indeed make me a happy camper. How they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is magnificent. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The creativity and imagination on display is absolutely lovely and how we get this kind of feudal garb mixed with robotic animals and such is the kind of dichotomy that makes for intriguing reading. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is brilliantly rendered. It shows such a strong eye for how colour should and can work to maximise their effects.
For someone like myself who doesn’t play video games and this serves as the only source of material for the franchise, it is a new reader, accessible and completely enjoyable. So If I can see this from the comic then I can only imagine how good it must be to fans of the game. With some inspired writing and intelligent characterisation surrounded by the absolutely brilliant interiors this is another example of how a comic can indeed surpass the source material.