Antarctic Press 2021
Written by Ron Z
Illustrated by Ario Murti
Lettered by Keith Perkins
Fused with the descendant of the legendary goddess Athena, scrawny college student Erin can now become the mighty Patriotika. In the wake of her most recent battle, Patriotika finds herself de-powered in a prehistoric world with dinosaurs! How will Erin and Athena escape? And who is the mysterious yet beautiful Arcane?
I know this is kind of cheesy and has a lot of T&A involved in the characters but there’s still something here that I find incredibly fun and charming. Plus the idea that Erin and Athena are fused in her body and it grows when she takes on the Patriotika persona adds to the fun and brings us a decidedly different and unique take on the Gods of Olympus. Any time you can bring me a different take on something that so many are already familiar with I’m going to support the heck out of it. Plus her friends are now suddenly a lot more involved in this dual life of hers for their own reasons but I’m still waiting for her gay bestie to show up in all this, that would normally be my role but I’m not in the book heh.
I am really rather 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 exceptionally 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 which they encounter continues to flesh them out and portray them as people we know, relate to or empathise with. The pacing is superb and as it take sus through the pages revealing the story, introducing us to the characters and the world they inhabit as it continues to grow and expand we are treated to some great storytelling.
I am impressed with the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story emerge and grow. The layers contain the good bits of characterisation and plot twists and more and these add depth, dimension and complexity to story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved incredibly well.
I really like the interiors here, even with the strategically ripped suit and all the T&A. the linework is fantastic and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work that we see is sensational work. I love the fact that we see backgrounds throughout the book and how they enhance the moments as well as how they work within the composition of the panels to bring us depth perception, a sense of scale and the 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 remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is brilliantly rendered. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a phenomenal understanding of how colour works and how to maximise its effects. The colour work really is bloody impressive.
The concept is fantastic and how we see the story being executed is pretty phenomenal. Even with the obvious it is still a great take on something we’re familiar with, the gods, but being told in a unique and interesting manner. With some strong intelligent writing and some absolutely bloody amazing interiors this continues to expand this world while letting us get to know the characters even better.