Image Comics 2019
Written by Chip Zdarsky
Illustrated by Kris Anka
Coloured by Matt Wilson
Lettered by Aditya Bidikar
In the fantastical world of Blacksand, peace was hard-won, and three unbending warriors carry the scars to prove it. Now, almost twenty years later, their children are missing and war is on the horizon. Can they put aside their memories of the war—and each other—for one last adventure?
First and foremost, HOLY CRAP!, this is definitely a Mature Title featuring some very interesting moments that may not be for everyone. I however applaud what I see here and have to say HOLY CRAP again.
I love the opening here. All wordless as we meet Sir Krylos the Bold as he tends his fields and the looks on the faces of the two characters as they see each other. Priceless, for everything else there's well nothing actually. Sigh one and half pages of nothing but imagery and it's gorgeously done and it intrigues the reader as it presents a very much fantasy world setting. When the story itself starts I earnest it really starts to take shape in some very interesting and unusual ways.
The way that we see the story & plot development and the character development throughout the entire issue is so incredibly well done. I like the personalities that we see in play here as old emotions rise to the surface like wounds that never healed with scabs that are constantly scratched off. It really is something incredible to see this level of animosity between one character to another. Krylos though there's something wrong with him, he's dead inside pure and simple and if this quest they find themselves on, however involuntary it may be, create spark something inside him again remains to be seen. All I know is that there are some very interesting and unusual relationships happening within these pages.
There is a creativity and imagination in what we see here in both the story and artwork. Crafting a world such as this, one where what we think of as normal doesn't exist and yet the similarities persist is incredibly well done. Also the sheer fact that sexuality is seemingly fluid here is another aspect I like as well as this Dahvlan being like a mixture of Panthro and Grumpy Smurf with a definite slant to him. Actually each character has their own unique properties that make them special and it goes from side characters we meet for a moment all the way through the main ones.
The interior artwork here is amazing to see and the fact that we see what we do, hard, soft and varying thickness well damn son this is what I'm talking about. The linework is gorgeously done and the way the varying weights are utilised to create this attention to detail. The eyes are stupendous as they create their own mood, tone and feel in ways that need to be seen to be believed, seriously the looks in them are expressive and dangerous the whole enchilada. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows such an amazing eye for storytelling. So I would like to see more backgrounds in use and give us that chance to see this world as Kris' imagination comes through even more. The colour work is really nice to see as well. The light sources that create shading and shadows and the various hues and tones that utilised is sensational.
This took me by surprise and the content inside really was something that the world needs to see. The quest these three are currently undertaking is so well thought out and has just the right kind of impact on what we see. The writing really is as beautiful as the interior artwork. I don't need Light Lass to use her power on me to be blown away by a feather with this one.