Vault Comics 2020
Written by Sebastian Girner
Illustrated by John Bivens
Coloured by Iris Monahan
Lettered by Jeff Powell
16th century Japan. The fates of warlords ebb and flow like tides of blood, none more than the Aragami Clan who follow their lord clad in the 'Red Devil' mask into every battle. But when Lord Aragami succumbs to illness, his daughter, the fierce Ketsuko, hatches a plot to save her people, no matter the cost… Years later, as Ketsuko wanders the heaving battlefields of her ruined homeland, she discovers a chance to avenge the terrible wrong done to her clan, even if it means stepping back onto a road steeped in slaughter.
We have seen stories of the Samurai told time and again throughout history so what is it about this one that is going to different. All we have to do is look to Mulan whose story is now infamous, however, we no longer know if her story as we know it is real or the victim one telling too many with altering moments. So that this one starts off the way it does and it’s at the beginning of a new chapter in her life and leaves the door open to her experiences and the moments that shape who she becomes as we see here. It’s a bold direction in which to start off a book and I for one am wholly supportive of what we see.
I am loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold and how the reader learns information is exquisitely. The way we learn about this world, these characters and how the story is going to progress and we get this in a most unconventional manner. At least that is how I see this playing out thus far and it definitely has a huge appeal to me. The character development is amazing! Men of this era were who they were and women well they subservient or dead I suppose. Either way it is what it is and while it’s disgusting to see it fits suitably into this world. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through these pages revealing the world to us it is easy to see just how well everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow.
I am totally digging the interiors here. The linework that we see and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to bring out the attention to detail we see. The way the work comes to life before our eyes and how the utilisation of perspective and distance and it really packs a wallop. The way that we see the backgrounds being utilised and how they enhance the moments and bring a sense of size and scope to the story is marvellous. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a magnificent eye for storytelling. I love the way that we see colour being utilised. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to show us shading, highlights and shadow work is extraordinary to see.
This is an extraordinary first issue introduction to a new world, one that most don’t really know. This is unapologetic in nature and I love it for that. There seems to be no sugar coating and what is is what will be I love that about this, gone is the politically correct way of washing the way things were away and this, this is so damn good to read.