Writer – Jon Tsuei

Artist – Audrey Mok

Colorist -Raul Angulo

Letterer – Jim Campbell

Whenever I’m flipping through books at my local comic shop, one of the first things I look for is lots of dialogue on the pages. Even if the subject matter looks like it may not interest me, a good story can reel me in .That’s pretty much what happened here. That, and a beautifully coloured cover that matched the archers “pull” strikingly well.This was my last pick up of the week. Glad it made the cut. Onto the review.

Overall , I enjoyed the book. It’s a story of magic, of family, of legacy and of loss. Relatable characters help any story and there was plenty to relate to here. A fairly ambitious first issue, to set the stage for a journey for chapters to come. I had seen some of the themes before, but when they are well done I really have no issue with it. The general character development was spot on for this first issue .Main character(Princess Sera) gives you an essence of her family bonds, and the stress that comes from that, along with how each of us might deal with an unwanted burden we have no choice but to deal with. There were a fair amount of cast members introduced this chapter ,but there was enough there to make their introduction relevant  and to move the story along.

The art by AUDREY MOK was hit and miss for me .Fleshed out facial features can tell a story all by itself. Would have liked to have seen more development of the characters facial features .Some of the panels it was there and sometimes not. Lots of background  details in the panels though, which helped give the story the sense of adventure that it was. Colorist Raul Angulo gave the panels great finishes with some beautiful shades of yellow and orange which completed the journey of a trek through the desert, and dark blues and purples to signify dreamscape, the coming of the gods and the cool night sky. Bit wordy, I know, but I couldn’t draw a bath so that will have to suffice.

If you enjoy stories in the vein of Aladdin, Gladiator(yes, really), Elizabeth, Joan of Arc, Brave ,or others with strong , adventurous female characters, you’ll probably enjoy this one. It’s a well written, well paced story. One thing that did crack me up a bit was hearing a princess say “shit”. I’m sure they do say that, it just seemed a bit out of place, but it’s a minor thing. I’m not sure I’m giving the second issue a try(I’m “princessed” out. Why can’t the heroine be a courtesan who dives into adventure after her last client of the day?)but you should give the first issue a try and go from there. It’s worth the read.

Til next time

Scott