(Click title to go directly to the review)
ANT-MAN #1
LADY KILLER #1
THE FADE OUT #4
IRON FIST: THE LIVING WEAPON #8
Advance Review: SHERLOCK HOLMES VS. HARRY HOUDINI #3
THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #1
DEADLY CLASS #10
IN SEARCH OF LOST DRAGONS HC GN
ANT-MAN #1
Writer: Nick SpencerArt: Ramon Rosanas
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: DrSumac
It's easy to forget, but Marvel did a really smart thing when they released the animated series “Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes” back in 2010. At that time the Captain America and Thor films hadn't come out yet and I myself was uninterested in them, as I thought they were pretty cheesy characters. However, the show made me appreciate them as fun and interesting. Oddly enough, though, my favorite character on the show was the dumbest of them all: Ant-Man.
Ant-Man wasn't on the team to be a hero; he wanted to help people, and that included the villains. He was the only character that seemed to think about the repercussions of what they did as heroes, which I found very refreshing. When the Ant-Man movie was announced I figured if I saw even a glimmer of that same character I'd be on board. Of course, the film will feature Scott Lang more so than Hank Pym, but there was still promise to me.
With the success of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” film It's clear that Marvel has sought to capitalize on the brand with not only toys and collectables, but multiple comics as well. The launch of a new Ant-Man comic that came out the same week as the first movie trailer is clearly an attempt to get ahead of the game and familiarize the audience with his character. In fact, it's safe to assume that the comic may be inspired by the tone of the film on some level, so for those who love spoilers this is maybe worth a read.
Now I'm not one to buy into obvious marketing ploys, but my interest in the character was sparked and I've never read a comic with him so I wanted to give this a shot. To my surprise not only did I think this was a great comic, but it's probably one of my favorites I've read for a while now. Scott Lang is a guy with a lot of problems, but he doesn't let it get him down. More than anything he is driven to be a great father to his daughter, even though the cost is that he's pretty much a failure at everything else.
One of the smart things this book does is play on the fact that most people may not be familiar with the character, and as a first issue we're not sure what the story will really be. Much of the story here involves Scott applying to be Tony Stark's new head of security in New York and the odds seem stacked against him. If he gets it, it would do a great job of establishing his new role in the Marvel Universe where he'd take care of things there while Tony is running his own town. That seems rather obvious, though, and true to form the comic keeps you guessing while drawing you into Scott's head as you follow his adventure.
Ant-Man is a fun, funny, and at times emotional comic that will surprise you. They say that part of the purpose of comics nowadays is to test things out for the movies, but honestly I don't care about that. If issue 2 and issue 10 are as good as this issue, then the movie will have a lot to live up to. I've read a lot of Marvel comics lately that seem to depend on a hook to get you to the second issue, but with Ant-Man I want to read on because I honestly don't know what will happen next, but I have a good feeling I'll like it.
LADY KILLER #1
Writers: Joelle Jones and Jamie S. RichArtists: Joëlle Jones and Laura Allred
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Reviewer: Optimous Douche
Upon this pillbox hat we rest our hopes and dreams.
While LADY KILLER’s “assassin by day to housewife by night” story of Josie Schuller’s beautiful brutality was as swift in reading as it was in making me beg for more more more, frankly I would have walked away were it set in the here and now.
What was so beautifully conceived, executed, and spun into a true serial surprise with years of potential was the wise blood spattering of America’s Camelot. The early ‘60s were a time when America was outwardly perfect, but ultimately built our gleaming castle upon a bog instead of lush moors. LADY KILLER is the reminder that we could smell the bog already even if it wasn’t blasted across TV. Also, that the perfectly poised pillboxes atop our mothers’ and grandmothers’ heads capped a rage against the machine that was about to burn a million bras and send dunce husbands burrowing underground into mancave safety. Yes, LADY KILLER is a hyperbole to the ultimate “hear me roar” reality of the still-struggling gender equalizing effort, but Joelle and Jamie write a much better song of lady swagger (so suck it, Joan Baez--clever makes me learn quicker and care more deeply than preachy).
Sexy and smart don’t have to be mutually exclusive attributes. Sadly, for many years women had to choose, and often smart was subjugated for the noble sacrifice of placating male pride to continue humanity. Many women with grand career potential hung up hope so Derwood would feel fucking special after his day making crappy ads for Tate Advertising. LADY KILLER allows Josie to be a doe-eyed demon of destruction, which is a freedom I see just now being embraced by women in the workplace. She makes sexy a respectable weapon from her handler who is quite handy, and who I see as her true foil moving forward – her live-in mother-in-law. No, Josie doesn’t use the fluttering eyelashes on the monster from whence her husband came, but a husband is totally apt to tell his mother to STFU if her nagging is proving to be a potential inhibitor to crossing the aisle between the single beds later.
While I am smitten with Josie, I can’t deny the allure of her supporting cast in fleshing her out as a 3D character instead of some Eisenhower-era pin-up pastiche. Not since Superman’s pals have I wondered so much about the carbon-based ancillary plot drivers. Her handler, as I mentioned, is a cad of innuendo that Josie has wrapped around her trigger finger. Here, though, is where we see the Josie I respected most: not the psycho hitwoman nor the placating housewife, but the working girl who needs as much cunning and cleverness as curves to get the job done.
I think I’ve perved out on Josie enough through this review to solidify JJ’s prowess with a pencil, but her talented pen is dipping into a much deeper well than simple comely faces and one static moment of cheesecake to avoid a skirt hem doused in blood. Jones has achieved the trifecta of cinematic angles, scenes so true to life you could fall inside, and the choice of a colorist that is ready to paint the book thematically across time and vastly disparate tonality between the rising and falling action. While the Allreds have always owned the silver age, Laura’s work in LADY KILLER is a transcendence of emotional disturbance and placidity into one harmonious pot I have yet to see in her past homages to forgotten times.
22 pages, a simple premise, and a few characters left me debating: the nature of sexual equality and the evolution of empowered femininity, the fall of our promised Pax Americana, the tranquil malaise of suburbia and the primal need in our lizard brain to rage against the safeguard of shaded streets and white picket fences. If Dark Horse picks up more titles like LADY KILLER, I have hopes the Death Star-sized recent loss in their revenue stream can be at least salvaged, if not downright saved.
When Optimous isn't reviewing comics he is making the IT words chortle and groan with marketing for MaaS360, Enterprise Mobility Management. He also has a comic coming out sometime soon, for updates head to robpatey.com.
THE FADE OUT #4
Writer: Ed BrubakerArtist: Sean Phillips
Publisher: Image Comics
Reviewer: Humphrey Lee
This is a little awkward. Awkward because, quite frankly, what do you say about a top flight creative team like that, that has more or less never disappointed in their collaborations, and have a style together that is pretty much unique to the industry? And the thing you say is that, actually, this latest team up, THE FADE OUT, has felt a bit off. I mean, the pieces of a Brubaker/Phillips joint have all been there. It’s a dirty and gritty tale in a very pulpy setting of late 1940s Hollywood, with very flawed and sometimes deranged protagonists and secondary characters. It’s violent, it’s sexy, the dialogue is biting and clever and sometimes sad. THE FADE OUT is exactly what you would expect these gentlemen to create, and yet it is actually completely different from one pretty important (and intriguing) standpoint.
What differentiates THE FADE OUT for me so far - and I know this seems innocuous enough, so hear me out – is, honestly, the pacing. For as long as I have been reading comics by this creative tandem they have been putting out books that have a pretty arc-centric slant in their execution. And what I mean by that is, even in the works that have been longer-running between them (remember, nothing they have joined forces for has had more than thirty issues in their run) there has been a pretty specific breakdown in how the acts work. SLEEPER worked in 12 issue “seasons” while CRIMINAL and INCOGNITO had their own one arc write ups that told a complete story each. Even FATALE, the most recent work of this team, broke down into time period-based arcs that introduced new characters to throw into the meat grinder that was entering the world of that book’s central character, Josephine. I know, I know, this sounds like a weird, jabbering conspiracy theory of insignificance but I feel like it makes a difference to the storytelling approach and I think sets up THE FADE OUT for a much more seamless and unconstrained work from this dynamic duo.
I noticed that this book felt different because it was a simple matter of noticing that, quite honestly, this was issue four and it did not feel like a block was about to complete. In fact, we have barely started with this tale of murder and excess. Four issues in and we really only have glimpses of our cast of characters, let alone the overall stakes and circumstances they are playing for and tied up with. World War II vet and blocked up screenwriter Charlie Parish is too scared and (typically) soused to really grasp the implications behind the murder of movie starlet Valeria Sommers. His partner in the knowledge that Valeria was actually murdered and not a suicide, as it was staged post-mortem, is equally drunken but more enraged than scared. Then you have replacement star Maya Silver and her apprehensions, womanizing star of screen Earl Rath, etc, etc. Everyone who has a part in this play, even if they’ve barely been glimpsed on the set, and that has made this more engaging than in times past now that I’m not expecting a big shake up every five issues, or a perspective shift every so often as we prepare to jump into the next arc.
I guess this is my long-form way of saying that everything these guys have done together up until now was a sham, and I’m glad to see that a decade later they can finally get down to making REAL comics together. * cough * Or what I’m finally just realizing and vocalizing is that, even though it in no real way affected the actual quality of work, the storytelling of these collaborations was starting to feel regimented, I think is a good word for it, to the point where even a slight break from that pattern was a pretty big inhalation of that fresh air everyone’s always going on about. Every little glimpse that we are getting now opens up a breadth of possible story and character twists, especially when you factor in the setting Brubaker and Phillips wrangled up for this project. It started with the sad and shady death of a beautiful young girl with the world in front of her, and now in issue four things have blossomed, like Valeria Sommers’ career was about to, into such subject matters as Communist paranoia, FBI involvement and cover ups, WW2 induced PTSD, and even a cult. This could, and hopefully will, take years to flesh out, which would also be a bit of a break from the norm for our gentleman callers, given thirty issues or so is the longest they’ve gone on one single project together before.
Regardless of how they continue to play THE FADE OUT forward, it’s obviously going to be worth the time and money investments; it’s just nice to see the storytelling approach change itself up a bit. And the environment which Brubaker and Phillips chose for their special brand of noir is perfect. Early day Hollyweird is the optimal witches’ brew of sex, violence, megalomania and neurosis for them to stir up. This also has the added bonus of giving some extra referential geek out moments if you are a bit of an older, black and white film fan considering you can’t throw around a costume closet handjob without a Clark Gable or Ronnie Reagan or Bogart reference or straight up guest appearance. And then it all comes crashing down onto a set of shattered dreams and lecherous “heroes” and politics of the big screen, made even more bittersweet that our storytellers are at their best game now to tell it to us. Welcome to Hollywood.
Humphrey Lee has been an avid comic book reader going on fifteen years now and a contributor to Ain't It Cool comics for quite a few as well. In fact, reading comics is about all he does in his free time and where all the money from his day job wages goes to - funding his comic book habit so he can talk about them to you, our loyal readers (lucky you). He's a bit of a social networking whore, so you can find him all over the Interwebs on sites like Twitter, Facebookand a blog where he also mostly talks about comics with his free time because he hasn't the slightest semblance of a life. Sad but true, and he gladly encourages you to add, read, and comment as you will.
IRON FIST: THE LIVING WEAPON #8
Writer: Kaare Kyle AndrewsArtist: Kaare Kyle Andrews
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: The Kid Marvel
I previously wrote reviews for IRON FIST: THE LIVING WEAPON #1 and #2, giving them a lot of praise for overall artwork and writing from Kaare Andrews, with this issue continuing that trend of quality. Andrews takes on both the art and writing, making this story solely his in how it’s being told, which he excels at, with almost no complaints on my end.
In IRON FIST TLW, Danny is still unable to gather ki in his fists and must rely on the machinery that Fooh has provided him. Rand is looking grizzly and resembles a man who’s been training for an extensive period of time, essentially following or paying homage to the training clichés in martial arts-related stories. The book moves through Danny’s travels into Diyu, or the realm of the dead, in search of his mother, with the goal of saving her from her suffering. IRON FIST TLW 8 follows Danny’s growth metaphorically and physically to reclaiming his former self as Iron Fist while overcoming his past and some personal demons.
Overall this was a solid issue, with Andrews’ artwork being the defining highlight and really bringing the story to life. Danny’s time in Diyu was spectacular artwise, beautifully rendered, and the black and white designs mixed with minimal colors were extremely well done. The merging of Asian influences in the artwork with the western comic style along with it really, really comes together wonderfully. The action sequences moved seamlessly throughout the issue, doing an excellent job of paying homage to kung fu movies of old, while displaying a very artistic take on how everything comes together. Everything about the art is freaking phenomenal. There is a panel with Danny standing over his mother after finding her within Diyu. Danny has a wolfskin covered over his head; it’s so badass and probably the most powerful moment in the book--it’s a spectacular piece.
As for the issue’s writing, the art tells more of the story than the writing does. The writing is more of a narrative or guide, with the artwork seeming to be more of the forefront of how the story is being told. IRON FIST TLW seems to be the conclusion of Danny’s redemption story and reclaiming himself. This issue honestly focused minimally on the overall arc, narrowing in on Danny overcoming his past and moving forward in reclaiming “himself” as the Iron Fist, ending with a Bruce Lee jumpsuit and three piece staff homage.
I really like this series, and Andrews’ take on the character so far. All the homages to old kung fu movies and martial arts stories in general may be clichéd in a lot of ways but it doesn’t take away from how enjoyably the series is. I will say other than the quote of Buddha being a weapon, at least by name in Siddhartha as “he who aims” being fairly contradictory to Buddhism’s ideology, I have no real complaints with IRON FIST TLW 8. I would recommend the issue and the series with Andrews at the helm.
Advance Review: In stores today!SHERLOCK HOLMES VS. HARRY HOUDINI #3
Writer: Anthony del Col & Conor McCreeryArtist: Carlos Furuzono
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Reviewer: Lyzard
My relationship with Anthony del Col and Conor McCreery as a critic of theirs has been a rocky one. There are the times that I am praising their works, and then others when I am left shaking my head and crying “why, why” when things go ever so utterly wrong in their narratives. Then there is the snickering over Twitter when those two somehow take a story from a-okay to awesome. Our rapport is hardly consistent. Their work on SHERLOCK HOLMES VS. HARRY HOUDINI, however, is.
This comic hinges on the back and forth between the asshole detective and pompous magician. Though there is a mutual respect between the two men, it is their constant need to one-up the other, to be the smartest man in the room, to beat the other to the punch (sometimes literally) that drives this comic along. The series has potential far beyond the current mystery, but only because of how del Col and McCreery have written these two characters. While their artistic depictions are much too similar, their voices are keenly distinct. A line said by Houdini could not be mistaken for spoken by Holmes. Even though in issue #3 they spend the least amount of page time together, their contesting natures drive the story. They could be searching for a dognapper for all I care, I’d still read this comic.
But Holmes and Houdini have their sights set on someone more villainous than Cruella DeVille. After Houdini’s London premiere ended in a “suicide,” the two rationalists have been looking for the flesh and blood murderer who caused the incident and who has also threatened to create more chaos unless the American bows down to his awesome powers. Sound familiar? Perhaps I was so taken by the comic’s conceit that the similarity escaped me for the first two issues, but the climax of this book veered eerily close to the first Robert Downey Jr. SHERLOCK HOLMES flick. I am in no way accusing anyone of plagiarism. Parallels are bound to be found in material based on the same literary source. But if I were to find fault with the storytelling in this issue it would be how the plot felt more like del Col and McCreery’s other works, perhaps more “Killing Conan Doyle” rather than a clear focus on their original pairing of Houdini and Holmes, two jackass geniuses fighting against rather than with each other.
The artwork, same as the writing, has changed very little since the first issue. There is a lack of detail resulting in characters with nearly identical features. When Houdini and Holmes are on the same page there is enough to distinguish, but when both men go their separate ways to solve the crime, it can take a panel or two in order to decide whose footsteps we are following now. There was little in the way of action for the first book, so it is not inconsistent for the artwork to improve now that we get some punches being thrown. Much of the physical drama is drawn tight and up close, where Furuzono’s penciling improves in detail. It is when a panel has depth or scope that the over-simplification stands out.
SHERLOCK HOLMES VS. HARRY HOUDINI #3 does exactly what a midpoint issue should do. The stakes are raised ever so high, pushing the characters to their breaking points, and the reader to the edge of their chair in anticipation for what will happen next. I’ve learned my lesson in trying to predict what del Col and McCreery are trying to do, so I will leave the deduction to the experts. However, I doubt even Houdini or Holmes could guess how this story will end.
Lyzard is Lyz Reblin, a graduate student at the University of Texas pursuing a master's degree in Media Studies... which is just a fancy way of saying she plays a lot video games, watches far too many horror films, and then tries to pass it all off as "research."
THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #1
Writer: Ryan NorthArt: Erica Henderson
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: DrSumac
Way back at my first New York Comic Con, the very first panel I attended was for Marvel video games. At the time one of the games they discussed was their browser-based freemium Super Hero Squad game where they promised to include just about every Marvel hero as a playable character. When they asked the audience who they wanted in the game I shouted out Multiple Man, but the character that the crowd most wanted was none other than Squirrel Girl. Now, I had never heard of her before then and I'm sure it was largely a joke, but a year later at the same panel they unveiled that Squirrel Girl was going to be in the game and made a trailer just for us. By then I got the joke and took interest in her, although I hadn't gotten to read a comic that featured her until now.
For those who aren't familiar with her, Doreen Green, aka Squirrel Girl, is a mutant with the proportional strength and speed of a squirrel. She can also talk to squirrels and her best squirrel friend is named Tippy-Toe. Doesn't sound like much, right? Well despite the apparent silliness of her powers, Doreen has a history of defeating many powerful foes, often without the help of other heroes. Deadpool, MODOK, Wolverine, and even big baddies like Dr. Doom and Thanos have all been taken down by none other than Squirrel Girl. This is done largely as a running gag, but there is something charming about the way she can seemingly take on any challenge and triumph with stick-to-itiveness and out of the box thinking, hence the title THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL.
The reason I have never read a comic with her before is that she seems to have been mostly resigned to hard to find miniseries and cameo appearances. Fortunately, now she has her own title and it's just as fun as you might expect. I actually find it very refreshing when Marvel or DC put out a fun, kid-friendly series like this. For all the talk that comics are for kids, it's actually rare to find a series that's good for children that isn’t directly based on a cartoon series. In this particular issue we see Doreen move into her college dorm for the first time, but it really is fun for all ages.
What really made this comic work for me was how it turns the typical super hero story on its head. Doreen decides to have a secret identity, but is truly terrible at acting normal, which is very entertaining. Fortunately no one really knows who Doreen or Squirrel Girl are, so no one really cares, either. I particularly liked how her roommate worries that Doreen with be weird and yet appreciates her for her eccentricity. Finally, when she confronts the villain Kraven the Hunter she defeats him largely by pointing out the silliness of his character, which shows that Marvel can laugh at themselves.
Squirrel Girl is the perfect comic for young readers or fans who don't always need their comics to be dark, gritty, and filled with angst. She's already a fan favorite, but I predict that this series could launch her to stardom. According to the last panel of this issue she is set to take on Galactus himself next, and I for one can't wait to see how she manages to take on one of the most powerful villains in Marvel history.
DEADLY CLASS #10
Writer: Rick RemenderArt: Wesley Craig
Publisher: Image Comics
Reviewer: Morbidlyobesefleshdevouringcat
If there is one thing I love, it’s slightly sadistic narratives that have no problem with coercing you to either cry, vomit, or both while being immersed in them. Infused with the blood of Rick Remender’s high school traumas alongside Wes Craig’s ineffable visual storytelling talents and the expertise of Lee Loughridge’s colouring, DEADLY CLASS pursues that agenda as a voltaic coming-of-age story, and with the tenth issue bursting out it’s going to continue that way well into the new year.
DEADLY CLASS follows Marcus Lopez, an orphaned teenager who finds himself enrolled at King’s Dominion High School for the Deadly Arts. Imagine MORTAL KOMBAT meets BKV’s THE RUNAWAYS. It’s at this quaint little school that Marcus befriends the sons and daughters to some of the most prolific members of the mafia and the cartel.
Now, the creative team is known for being over the top with DEADLY CLASS; when your main cast is a group of assassins-in-training struggling through the moody teenage years you sort of have to be, but issue ten got to be a little too much for my taste. While hung over, working his day job at the local comic book store, Marcus, thinking he is about to hilariously fart in some annoying kids’ face, finds out that the pressure exerting itself out of his bottom is in fact not gas but diarrhea. Straight up poop. Everywhere. Initially, the scene of Marcus working at the store was great, a monologue expertly observing customer interactions, dissecting the social standings that exist in comics, the reflection of societal idiosyncrasies. But, then Marcus’ struggle with his bowels occurs and it just felt slightly out of place.
Also, something else has been a bit of a bother with DEADLY CLASS as the comic moves deeper: the female characters. Understandably, all the kids in the group are mostly used to further Marcus’ story along, as the whole series currently revolves around him, but what’s incredibly bothersome is how Saya and Maria exude stereotypical female archetypes. Saya is quiet, distant, unattainable. Maria is wild, strong, overly emotional. Personality traits that are usually only stamped for women. Marcus himself is incredibly fluid and is without any major stereotypes pertaining to his gender or ethnic background. The team is beginning to introduce each kid’s background stories, so let’s hope that these flat characters get a chance to be more than lamps and start to appear as varying as Marcus.
So, aside from those flaws let’s talk about WHY you should be picking up this comic, if you haven’t been doing so yet. This issue has a fairly similar method for transmitting dopamine to the synapses as prior issues: jam-pack youthful philosophical meanderings and juxtapose that across thrill-seeking action. This method of storytelling is fairly prevalent throughout the entire series, but with Craig’s artistic skill set, reading DEADLY CLASS #10 is far from cumbersome or boring. Craig’s panels are incredibly stimulating. He isn’t afraid to steer away from the standard. This issue, of course flooded with action, has Marcus and the group ambushing the house of Fuck Face and his gang, a boy who had terrorized Marcus as child. Craig’s panels during these scenes are slightly tilted, almost diagonal, adding motion and intensity. But what really makes DEADLY CLASS visually compelling and diversifies itself from the rest is Loughridge’s coloring. His simple monochromatic style sharpens the art and keeps you engaged with the story. There is more I could say, more I want to say, but it all seems fruitless because, really, you should just be reading it already.
Advance Review: Coming soon!IN SEARCH OF LOST DRAGONS HC GN
Writer: Elian Black ‘Mor, Carine-M, JezequelArtist: Elian Black ‘Mor, Carine-M
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Reviewer: Lyzard
First and foremost, I don’t think IN SEARCH OF LOST DRAGONS is a comic. Sure, it has the combination of words and images. But that alone can hardly define an entire medium. LOST DRAGONS lacks paneling and instead opts for art that plays off as pages on top of pages. Then there is the length that far outstretches the average graphic novel. Two years ago I reviewed Mozchop’s SALSA INVERTEBRAXA. It is a very similar comic, based more on grand art than storytelling. But there was a clear story, told both visually and literally. That was a comic. IN SEARCH OF LOST DRAGONS would best be described as a coffee table book, or for those that hate to seem posh and pompous, an art book with a bit of fiction thrown in.
That being said, IN SEARCH OF LOST DRAGONS is beautiful by all definitions. It is gorgeous to look at. The writing sings. The ever-changing layout and page spreads are a feast for your eyes. Aesthetically, IN SEARCH OF LOST DRAGONS easily blows away any book I read in 2014.
There is, however, a caveat to be said for the writing. It is written with justifiably fanciful and flowery language. The flowing script font just adds to the tactile style the book is written as. However, this is where the reading experience is unlike any comic I’ve had to review or read myself. Comics use paneling for several reasons, a main one being flow. IN SEARCH OF LOST DRAGONS has no flow. Your attention isn’t so easily drawn to one element or the other; the artist and writer are not in command of where the reader’s eyes dart to first on the page. To read IN SEARCH OF LOST DRAGONS as a comic is a challenge, and while the font type works with the overall visual style, it slows down the reading as well. Each page takes time to read. You must first dedicate yourself to parsing through all the elements, whether they be the main image and some annotation text, or a torn-out page from a notebook along with several other sketches. Sequential is a word that could never be applied to IN SEARCH OF LOST DRAGONS, and that reason by far is why you cannot read this like any other comic book. To attempt to sit down and read it page by page would be a fool’s errand.
For IN SEARCH OF LOST DRAGONS tells less a tale but rather spins a yarn about an entire world, a world in which the magical and mystical are treated as incredulous rather than ridiculous. At first I wanted to compare it to the tome in HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, almost a D&D Monster Manual that gave a rundown and specs for various scaly beasts. But IN SEARCH OF LOST DRAGONS is more than that. It is like the supplementary material provided in video games such as DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION or SKYRIM. There are pages upon pages not just on dragons, but of fantastical cities and towns and the folks that inhabit this sometimes familiar, sometimes awe-worthy world. It is as if IN SEARCH OF LOST DRAGONS was a 200+ page movie pitch, complete with concept art, early sketches, scene examples, and marketing material.
IN SEARCH OF LOST DRAGONS would belong in the same bookcase as A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, but not on the same shelf as RED LANTERN or ANT-MAN.
Proofs, co-edits & common sense provided by Sleazy G
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