American Mythology 2017
Written by Mike Wolfer
Illustrated by Gene Magora & Jazz De La Cuesta
Coloured by Beezzz Studios
Lettered by Natalie Jane
Stranded in time on the remote island continent of Caspak, Bowen Tyler, his future granddaughter Abby, the Galu warrior woman See-Ta, and the evil Baron von Schoenvorts and the crew of the German U-33 submarine have had their hands full fighting for survival against the rampaging dinosaurs of Caspak, as well as each other. But they are all about to be thrust into a war of worlds unlike anything ever seen, as the insidious inhabitants of Pellucidar find their way to the surface world, right in the heart of Caspak. The goal of the telepathic, prehistoric Mahars is the total subjugation of Caspak, a land that they seek to claim as their new kingdom, and with an invasion force of giant ants and an army of corpse-like, cannibalistic, subterranean creatures, they just might succeed!
First off I have to say that while reading individual issues is great getting to read the entire story in one sitting is even better! American Mythology does some absolutely stellar work with the Burroughs franchise, well The Land that Time Forgot, and have made it a staple in my reading whenever it comes out. Mike manages to bring that sense of awe and wonder to this that Burroughs had originally installed in the book. That we get that is utterly fantastic because you can’t be in Caspak without those feelings and the way the reader gets to see and feel it makes it worthy of a Burroughs story.
Mike does a great job here as well in bringing his other work Pellucidar into this so that it feels natural that the two worlds would well collide. While their appearance is just as shocking to the locals as it is to us where they come from could be below anywhere planet wide so that it exists here well it makes that odd kind of perfect sense. Though now that see this here when is Pellucidar going to get its own three story arc treatment?
I like the way this whole thing is structured and the back and forth and then intermingling of the stories. Each transition is nicely done as well so nothing feels rushed, glossed over or done in a way that doesn’t help the story run smoothly. The characterisation and the way they all communicate is very well done and I like how the main-ish characters are the most mysterious and able to unite the two worlds. Not only that but the way we see how Mike is able to keep the storylines true to their own worlds while still uniting them for a brief time it really comes through as this completely natural event that could happen all the time.
The interior artwork here is really sharp, the weight and use of the linework here is spectacular. The attention to detail in the work is amazing and the fact that they use the backgrounds to give us that kind of scope of the world, how large and small it is, and just give us the real impact of any moment is delightful. The way page layouts are utilised so we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off some nice eyes for storytelling. There really is some great creativity, imagination and realism or research into the creatures in the artwork that makes it as believable as it can be.
American Mythology is quietly putting out some of the nicest licensed property stories around. They are solidly written, nicely illustrated and damn well entertaining. This may be a three issue arc but ya know what the way it reads and how it makes an impact upon the reader reminds us why we love this medium of storytelling.