Broken Icon Comics 2015
Written & Created by Damian Wampler
Illustrated by Andre Siregar
Coloured Anang Setyawan
After a surreal encounter with a witch many moonfalls ago, Mitan’s former slave Alathea knows she should be dead, but doesn’t even have a scratch. It must have been a dream. If she does have some special powers, they have not yet awakened. Alathea is exhausted, disoriented, and all alone in hostile territory. Well, not completely alone….
Andre and Anang have really blown me away with the work they’ve done here. I’m so thrilled by the interior artwork I cannot express that enough. Right off the bat that baby girl is so just dayum when you see her and it’s powerful and leaves a very lasting impression on you and from there the entire book keeps that same level of intensity in the artwork and that itself is quite an accomplishment and shows me that this the kind of talent that could go a long way and make a lasting impact in the industry.
I also like that this issue we see that the baby girl is Sevara reborn. This makes more sense to me than she just travels through time or is immortal that she retains who she is as she grows it’s an interesting concept. Damian doesn’t shy away from creating a fantastic story here of her rebirth and how it managed to happen. It is mysterious and fascinating in its scope while not really revealing anything about her history or when she was the first incarnation of Sevara. What this does is spark the imagination and make the reader think and Damian keeps the reader’s attention and helps ensure that we’ll come back to learn the whole story.
How all this leads up to last issue is intriguing in it’s own right. I mean when we see Mitan and his health suffering even more since Althea’s departure and stoning. I have to say there’s more than a curiosity about the healer in the death mask for me it just seems so out of place and incredibly fitting at the same time that his story is one I find myself wanting to learn about. Still by having a colossus made of steel and mysterious powered finding Sevara and those with her well that screams of times past and that all matters of technology haven’t been lost which again adds another layer to the story that works wonders on the reader’s mind.
Also the huge reveal this issue as we see all these characters converge in the now is pretty spectacular. Should have seen this coming but I totally didn’t and what it does is change a few things and Mitan’s importance in how things will play out next issue.
For me the folks at Broken Icon are the little engine that could, love, passion and perseverance are paying off handsomely with the fact that they are able to bring us a prime example of why you should be paying attention to the small self-published companies. This is one of the best examples of solid writing and beautiful artwork that can shift focus from the so-called mainstream and make comics fans happy.