Boom! Studios 2020
Written by James Tynion IV
Illustrated by Michael Dialynas
Lettered by Aditya Bidikar
The Bandaged Man has returned to Pipetown to find any remaining magic and will eliminate it -- or them -- with extreme prejudice. But can Wynd, with the help of Oakley, find a way to cure himself of his magical heritage -- or has he put himself in even more danger than he ever imagined?
I am liking the way that we see two different angles of the same story unfolding throughout these pages. Granted this is Wynd’s tale and he’s a very special boy but because of the way the Kingdom is going and how the King’s hatred of magic and those who are touched by it is reaching a fevered pitch well it would seem no one is truly safe anymore. Plus that the king's son, Prince York, has asked his boyfriend to run away with him well the proverbial you know what is going to hit the fan.
I am loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is laid out beautifully and keeps everything moving forward. There really is a great way that this is being told so that it’s easy to follow and manages to keep rising the interest or intrigue factors with the turn of every page. The character development that we see here is utterly phenomenal and as we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances before them really shows us some wonderful growth throughout. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing this world, the past and how it affects the present is remarkably well done. With the way that this is structured and how we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow is amazingly well rendered.
The layers within the story and how we see the characters really makes this so much more compelling than one might expect. That there is this great amount of diversity in the characters and the idea that Wynd who’s an elf should be exterminated for being different well that’s something we all have seen. It is unfortunately a universal truth that there will always be someone to persecute for some reason or another and it does make the readers’ connection to the story that much stronger.
Michael has a very unique style to his work and it is easily recognisable. The all-ages aspect of the book is great and then how he adds such detail into the work is sublime. Right off the bat we see the patterns in the rug and blanket not to forget the shields and it just makes this so riveting or mesmerising to look at. I normally ask to see more backgrounds being utilised but what we see here is great and how we see depth perception, a sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the book is nicely done. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is beautiful, the different colours in the patterning show the hues and tones beautifully.
These are huge double sized issues and even then by the last page I am wanting to see more! I cannot wait for the two groups to meet up and then to see what Wynd is going to do. This has charm, personality, pizzaz and just this amazing way of connecting with the reader. I cannot recommend this enough if you aren’t already reading this.