I couldn't help myself. I had to see what happened next. This issue is really neat, in that it gives us a bunch of back story on some of the characters from yesterday's comic, and introduces some characters that I'm sure are going to pop up soon. I think what today's comic really did for me was to solidify my love for the characters and universe. There's even an ad for a new issue coming out next year, which made me give a little internal "Squee!"
The background on Tremb'axx was nicely handled, though I'll admit I saw the twist in the story coming. This is not a criticism of the storytelling, though. It served to reinforce just how evil the character actually is. And showed that even the evil amongst us will do crazy things for love. The second story, about Dillo Dhatta boasted some really cool art, especially in the sections dealing with Dhatta's memories. The panel borders disappear and we have jumble of images and captions relating his tale of woe to the reader. This disappearance of formal guides on the page nicely mirrors the way memory works, with prominent events at the fore, overshadowing more background occurrences. Of the three artists represented in today's comic, Justin Schauf really stands out. Not that any of the art is bad, but his fits the tenor of the story really nicely.
And then we have the continuation of Hamadeus's adventure, a battle with the Spectre General. I quite love the way that these comics are building this vast universe full of awesome, yet slightly ridiculous, characters. A story that gives you action, intrigue, drama, but doesn't take itself too seriously, is a good story. Both art and writing recognize that the concept is not a serious one, but also that just this lack of seriousness doesn't necessarily mean you can't explore some serious ideas.
I'd had the thought that I'd split these comics up over a week or two, but who am I kidding? I'll continue tomorrow with Spacepig Hamadeus and the Ambush at the Hourglass Sea.
To be continued.
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