
Archaia 2020
Written & Illustrated by Jennifer Rostowsky
Lettered by Jim Campbell
A young Khmer woman turns to black magic that promises to give the caster wealth, power, and beauty unlike that of any other human. When the spell turns on its caster, she must learn to deal with the consequences of magic, and what it means to be an Ahp.
I really enjoyed this story. The first one was pretty amazing but this one is out of this world crazy. I think the fact that a long time ago in a land far away that these two women were so in love to star in this tale. It is unusual to see these days and to see this handled in such ho hum, see lack of fanfare, way is such a beautiful thing to see. I like that this the story it’s just a normal everyday tale it lends credence and authenticity to what love looks like for different folks. I commend Jennifer on the way she’s told this story and how it’s completely engaging, inviting and full of a belief we don’t see every day.
I love, love the way that this is being told. This guy and his talking dog are extremely delightful catalysts for these tales. They really do feel like the old man and his dog from Fraggle Rock and considering that Henson is responsible for that as well it doesn’t come as a surprise. Still, their interactions are what fuels the tales which are brilliantly rendered. I also really like the life lessons these instill and while I wouldn’t say this is all-ages it is definitely right for those pre and early teen years on up. The way that we see story & plot develop through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information are presented beautifully. The character development is utterly phenomenal and we clearly see them for who they are through their actions. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way shows how everything works together to create the books ebb & flow.
This has all the hallmarks of a classic horror series but it’s more like a cautionary tale against behaving in certain ways. Nothing is going to scare you but you’ll see and understand what and why things go the way they do for the main character. It is a strong and powerful way to tell these kinds of stories while subconsciously reminding the reader about the bad behaviour we may or may not see in what we do.
The interiors here are really rather lovely. There is a romanticism to the work that gives it more of a fairytale quality to it. I think that the linework we see as well as how the varying weights are utilised make for a really interesting visual representation. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a very nice, talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is amazing. There are patterns in clothing that come just from colour and that alone is a marvel to see. The hues and tones within the colours that are utilised in the shading, highlights and shadow work really shows a nice eye for how colour works.
Great story and a great book that in my humble opinion represents Jim Henson in some wonderful ways. I can easily see this fitting into some of their worlds and being brought to life in that really unique way.