Valhalla Awaits #1
Evoluzione Publishing 2020
Created by Phil Buckenham
Written by Joshua Metzger & Phil Buckenham
Illustrated by Phil Buckenham
Coloured by Agnese Pozza
Lettered by Justin Birch
Valhalla Awaits is a comic series that draws heavily from the Poetic Edda and Viking and Norse mythological themes. The story follows characters Hildr and Erik and their journey through the Viking afterlife, where they encounter Norse gods, and legendary creatures.
I love a good Viking story, the Norse, the Egyptian and the Greek Gods are those that have for me the most interesting and intriguing characters. So while you can assume from the title that death will be a main feature here. I have to say I am utterly and sincerely impressed with this book and what I am seeing here. This is why I love small press companies, it's why I implore you to give them a try because of stories like this. Evoluzione is home to some incredible storytelling and you really need to check them out and soon.
I found the opening to be dramatic, impactful and full this impending doom and yet that rush for a small hope lingered. It really catches the readers' attention and keeps you engaged and even going off-script as you think of what may or may not know or heck even look up something to familiarise yourself more. This is such a rich and largely untapped realm so seeing this take on it is for me thrilling to see. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold and how the reader learns information is laid down spectacularly. Just the flow of the story and how things progress in such a way that you never lose your focus on what is happening. The character development is fantastic! I really enjoy seeing how the characters are introduced and how Hildr grows up and expands her viewpoint beyond what Erik drilled into her. She has some great lines and they are rather quite true to this day. The pacing is superb and as it takes through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way keeps us fascinated. The way everything works together to create the books ebb & flow is brilliantly done.
The interiors here are bloody marvellous! The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights being utilised to showcase the level and quality in the attention to detail will bring a smile to anyone's face. Speaking of the faces and facial expressions that we see are superb and along with the body language further the characterisation. The way that backgrounds are utilised here work within the composition of the panels to beautifully demonstrate depth perception, scale and bring this sense of size and scope to the book. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a strong, talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is really well rendered. I am a huge fan of how light sources are utilised as well as how the various hues and tones within the colours create the shading, highlights and shadow work that we see.
This was a treat people. The characters are sensational and how we see the story develop is really good and has this natural feel to the flow. The catalyst we see is completely understandable and thus makes Hildr one of those we can identify and relate to. Overall this really is why I love reading stories that seem to come out of nowhere and honestly this continues to be why I think Evoluzione is a company that needs to be on your radar. They have consistently good strong quality storytelling in their books.
Evoluzione Publishing 2020
Created by Phil Buckenham
Written by Joshua Metzger & Phil Buckenham
Illustrated by Phil Buckenham
Coloured by Agnese Pozza
Lettered by Justin Birch
Valhalla Awaits is a comic series that draws heavily from the Poetic Edda and Viking and Norse mythological themes. The story follows characters Hildr and Erik and their journey through the Viking afterlife, where they encounter Norse gods, and legendary creatures.
I love a good Viking story, the Norse, the Egyptian and the Greek Gods are those that have for me the most interesting and intriguing characters. So while you can assume from the title that death will be a main feature here. I have to say I am utterly and sincerely impressed with this book and what I am seeing here. This is why I love small press companies, it's why I implore you to give them a try because of stories like this. Evoluzione is home to some incredible storytelling and you really need to check them out and soon.
I found the opening to be dramatic, impactful and full this impending doom and yet that rush for a small hope lingered. It really catches the readers' attention and keeps you engaged and even going off-script as you think of what may or may not know or heck even look up something to familiarise yourself more. This is such a rich and largely untapped realm so seeing this take on it is for me thrilling to see. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold and how the reader learns information is laid down spectacularly. Just the flow of the story and how things progress in such a way that you never lose your focus on what is happening. The character development is fantastic! I really enjoy seeing how the characters are introduced and how Hildr grows up and expands her viewpoint beyond what Erik drilled into her. She has some great lines and they are rather quite true to this day. The pacing is superb and as it takes through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way keeps us fascinated. The way everything works together to create the books ebb & flow is brilliantly done.
The interiors here are bloody marvellous! The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights being utilised to showcase the level and quality in the attention to detail will bring a smile to anyone's face. Speaking of the faces and facial expressions that we see are superb and along with the body language further the characterisation. The way that backgrounds are utilised here work within the composition of the panels to beautifully demonstrate depth perception, scale and bring this sense of size and scope to the book. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a strong, talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is really well rendered. I am a huge fan of how light sources are utilised as well as how the various hues and tones within the colours create the shading, highlights and shadow work that we see.
This was a treat people. The characters are sensational and how we see the story develop is really good and has this natural feel to the flow. The catalyst we see is completely understandable and thus makes Hildr one of those we can identify and relate to. Overall this really is why I love reading stories that seem to come out of nowhere and honestly this continues to be why I think Evoluzione is a company that needs to be on your radar. They have consistently good strong quality storytelling in their books.
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