Heavy Metal Comics 2020
Created by Dylan Sprouse
Written by Dylan Sprouse & Joe Harris
Illustrated by Diego Yapur
Coloured by D.C. Alonso
Lettered by Saida Temofonte
Sun Eater is a nine-issue saga that takes place in ninth century Norway, where a drug-addled warrior sacrifices his leg to the Gods. In return he is fused with a parasitic beast, giving him the power to rescue his son from his sworn enemies—history’s first Norwegian king and his five personal guards. The result is a grim and bloody adventure—a dark metaphor for drug addiction, selfishness, and the children it affects.
This is absofreakinlutely one of the most interesting and well thought out and executed stories that I have had the pleasure to read lately. That we are set in Norway and that this deals with its mythology and real world problems and issues this really does send a rather powerful message while it also entertains. While the story engages the readers’ mind it does so in such a different way than we are expecting it to and it also has this way of connecting with the reader at the same time. I am thoroughly impressed that Dylan was able to come up with this and with Joe’s assistance they could bring this to life as they have.
I am a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see always moving forward through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented beautifully. It almost feels as if this has already started and we are entering at a point where we see the catalyst first and then as we move forward we also learn about the past. It is definitely an intriguing way to tell the story and it works exceptionally well. The character development is absolutely amazing to see. The circumstances and situations that they encounter and how the act and react to these fleshes them out a heck of a lot more than you could imagine. Then the dialogue between characters adds some interesting notes to the personalities of these folks. The pacing here is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, the world and the twists and turns along the way it’s easy to see how everything works so well together to create the story’s ebb & flow.
The interiors here are gorgeous. The linework that we see and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to showcase the detail work is exquisitely rendered. I mean holy mackerel when we see the offering and to whom it’s made this sets the tone for the rest of the book and nothing, I mean absolutely effin nothing lets us down. The mood tone and feel that it creates for the reader enhances the story and by utilising the setting, see backgrounds, it has those incredibly monumental moments where we are genuinely creeped out. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show this insanely talented eye for storytelling. The colour work that we see is magnificent! The hues and tones within the colours that are utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work elevates the linework exponentially. This is how colour works, should work, could work if you know how to lay it down like this. It truly is impressive work all around and I am in awe of what I see within these pages.
Heavy Metal is fast becoming this home for strong, powerful and extremely outside the box unique storytelling. This is a marvellous story and it’s just getting started and I am already on the edge of my seat for what’s to come next. This is one you’ll read over and over again and never tire of it, that in and of itself is one those accomplishments every creator dreams of and they do with class and style here.