IDW Publishing 2019
Story by Aaron Mahnke & Delilah S. Dawson
Written by Delilah S. Dawson
Illustrated by Piotr Kowalski
Coloured by Brad Simpson
Lettered by & Designed by Christa Miesner
As if a supernatural murder mystery wasn’t enough trouble, Arthur Wellesley must also deal with a talking crow, a magical crone, and an otherworldly monster roaming the countryside. All in a day’s work for the Duke of Wellington.
Sometimes when you have an artist on a book of Piotr's quality you can take a story that is this odd, queer and eclectic and see the kind of life the art makes possible elevates it to this insane level. From the look on the addlepated old woman's face you know in that instant what you are in for is one of those mindbogglingly excellent reads you wouldn't pass up for the world. The power of words here that Delilah brings us is another aspect of this book that excites the mind and imagination as you try to work out meanings of words long since departed from our vocabulary. What she does with all this is that we are reminded of a bygone era where function and descriptiveness were utilised to their fullest and it made one sound so cultured and intelligent.
I don't know what it is about the English countryside that keeps us fascinated with tales of legendary creatures from other realms but I have a feeling we'll never tire of them. From druids to the Fae to the Loch Ness the number of sightings and belief in the magic that exists there is the stuff that dreams and more importantly nightmares are made of. So what Delilah is able to do with this here is so magical and so inviting that there's no place I would rather be. Also that she is able to engage the reader so they, like I have just done, wander off-script and into the legends that abound is just another in the long list of reasons to her storytelling ability, talent and skill.
The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold and how the reader learns information is doled out exceptionally well. The character development here is stunning as we see through the dialogue and how the characters act and react to the circumstances and situations they find themselves in are revealed. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way it creates such a marvellous ebb & flow to the book.
Piotr's linework is absolutely stunning! What this man is capable of and how he utilises various techniques that tend to be lost amongst the younger generation make this even more impressive. How the varying weights in the linework are utilised to bring about this level and quality of attention to detail makes my heart sing, it makes everything groovy. I am a huge fan of how we see the way that backgrounds are being utilised here and how they work within the composition inside the panels bringing us depth perception, scale, that sense of size and scope and just overall enhancing each panel they are in. How we see the utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masters eye for storytelling. The colour work here too is simply gorgeous. Candle light, day light, spooky supernatural light all of these cast their own unique shades and hues over everything and I gotta say it all looks so beautifully creepy and haunting.
I would love to see more tales like this grace the shelves. Murder, mystery and creatures who mount your head on the wall oh my.