Image Comics 2019
Written by Chip Zdarsky
illustrated by Kris Anka
Coloured by Matt Wilson
Lettered by Aditya Bidikar
Violence is on the wind, and Krylos hasn’t taken a breath in decades. Can he save his son AND his soul while regaining the trust of lost friends?
Sweet punim Happy Rosh Hashanah Chinese mustard this is the one of the most unexpected gifts to a father that I have ever seen. What the guys have done here is build a brand new world full of creature characters who live life however they see fit while contributing to the Kingdom in some way. With Kings and rulers come wars and necessity not to mention conniving machinations where they aren't needed. These are three very different men, regardless of whatever race they happen to be and whom they happen to be lovers with. So different and so much the same all needing this journey they are on for as different reasons they are different from each other.
The way that this is being told is phenomenal to me. The story & plot development here as it reveals information along the ride is strong and fascinating and takes these unexpected turns. Alongside or mixed with the character development that is as flexible as fabric and as unforgiving as a woman scorned. There is fire there is passion and there is that moment of realisation of what a life lived and lost can cost you. I laughed, I shook my head and at the end I cried this world is one I think we need to see more of. There are corners of and people in this world who stories need to be told and the people that we have met their stories are far from over. While this isn't up to me it is what I feel deep inside my bones.
We have seen plenty of stories from these folks before and yet this one feels so much different than we've seen so far. That it makes this feel that way at least to me as the reader shows how they have managed to find another gear to shift into. Sometimes when a project becomes than that it is easy to see through the intensity of the work and how much stronger we connect to the characters and how much we end up going off-script thinking of the ways that we relate to the characters be it as the parent or the child.
Jeez Louise, Mary and Josephine the interiors from Kris are so amazing. Krylos is the kind of dad I want to call Daddy. The way we see his body, his pants that fit preciously close to his manhood with the muscles, the hair and those smouldering eyes. If he can make me lust after him like this then I cannot wait to see what else the man can do. The linework throughout the issue is so strong and stead and shows this sure hand and while he manages to utilised the varying weights to create this attention to detail in everything we see is astounding. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show this stupendous eye for storytelling. Do I wish there were more backgrounds being utilised, of course I do that's just who I am because they really enhance the moments and bring a size and scope to the book. The colour work we see is so nicely done. Between the shades of the armour and the way we colour choices and the hues and tones within creating the shading and shadow work we get this beautifully alien landscape and species.
Where last issue we saw a lot of nudity and penises that were a size queen's dream come true this issue there isn't any of that instead we see things presented differently and yet much more on the side of sexual intensity. The attitudes we see, the way they grow and evolve before our eyes and the tragedy of what we see and know is so life changing. I mean for the reader though it applies to the characters as well. I adore the fact that in the world we live in today these creators felt comfortable enough to do something this graphic, this intense and make it seem normal as the air we breathe.