IDW Publishing 2018
Written by Vita Ayala
Illustrated by Harvey Talibao
Coloured by Joana Lafuente
Art Assists by Tristan Jurolan
Lettered by Christa Miesner
In the wake of tragedy, Planeswalker and pyromancer Chandra Nalaar strikes out on her own. On her journey, she’ll have to fight against threats both old and new, as well as her own sense of guilt. Can she overcome all of that alone? And who is that familiar face lurking in the shadows?
I am one of those people who loves a good D&D story arc. Using characters who have powers and abilities for either the greater good, or for pure evil, and it feels very much like your standard superhero fare. This is something I don’t think anyone realises how similar these stories are to what you see all over the market. This story fits into that but it also explores one of the more recent aspects of the Dungeons and Dragons world style. This is based off a card game whose characters battle each other so that the one who controls them hopes to win. So it’s Yu Gi Oh for adults.
All that however goes out the window here because while the characters and the worlds come out of the card game the story is something that is created from the ground up. As far as I know these are characters we don’t know anything about other than what is on their cards so Vita really gets to have some fun character building. I like that as we see Chandra throughout this issue being fleshed out through her words and actions and it is a pretty darn strong characterisation. She’s already being layered and complexity is shining through.
I like the way that this issue is structured. We see a lot of things happening here which has this frantic whirlwind kind of feel to it and that these guys are able to convey the sensation to the reader is impressive in my eyes. The way she travels from plane to plane giving the reader a chance to not necessarily get a feel for them to establish the realms that are around. We also have the opportunity to meet a few of her supporting cast at least that is the assumption on my part. The flow of the story is nicely done as the somewhat hectic pacing and how we get to learn the beginning aspects of what’s happening with her.
Harvey, good grief Charlie Brown, is doing what I think may be the best work of his career. The linework here is crisp, clean, strong and expressive and the way he manipulates it to bring the varying weights into the attention to detail is stunning. Joana and Tristan’s contributions (okay I don’t know what Tristan’s are but ok) are exquisite as well. The colours, the way the fire comes to life dancing across the page is stunning and throughout the colours bring this to life in ways that are gorgeous. The creativity and imagination here is utterly superb and it goes for the way backgrounds are utilised as well. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a spectacular eye for storytelling. I cannot stress enough how much the intensity as well as subtlety of the work stands out here.
I think this is one of the most amazing first issue introductions to a series that I am seeing. I don’t play the card game and I only have a passing fancy with it so for me this is the kind of series where I can come into it with no preconceived notions. This is why I can look at this issue see the unlimited potential there is as well that last page ending. I cannot wait to see what is going to happen within this series and I have to tell ya I am more than excited by the prospect.