Glow 1-4 Ray Chou, Vincenzo Ferrero (Writers), Anny Maulina, Dia Ja (Art), Bryan Valenza (Colours), Nic Shaw (Letters). Mythopeia (#1-3, 2019, #4 2020)

 

A very engaging and enjoyable fantasy. Caszy and her younger bother Koken live in the settlement of Shoddai with Kelbourne the leader of the settlement. Shoddai is on the edge of the Wasteland where ruins of previous civilisations lie among the sands.  Caszy and Koken scavange the wasteland for artifacts with runes on them, runes that have the blue glow that contain and control power. A find in the wasteland and a visit by a stranger cause tension between Caszy and Kilbourne and an explosion leads to trouble. The story unfolds as trouble in a much bigger form arrives at the gates of Shoddai.

Ray Chou and Vincenzo Ferrero are wonderfully confident writers, the story starts right in with no background, the context is simply presented as it is, the focus is the cast. There is clearly a great deal of history that everyone in the story knows and the reader does not, everyone is too busy trying to live their lives to be thinking too much about it. The cast are really engaging, they have clear individual voices and strongly expressed fears and desires. They run up sharply against each other as the circumstances of the story squeeze them harder and harder.

Caszy is a great leading character, she is holding on the security of her brother and Shoddai with an angry ferocity, the memory of being exposed and vulnerable in the wasteland has marked her deeply. Koken has a greater confidence and internal security that makes him frustrated at the restrictions he feels are being placed on him. They give the story a strong emotional core that makes the impact of the action all the greater.

The end notes in each issue, notes made by Koken are great, they are a smart way of adding to the story and sense of the world that it is taking place in.

Anny Maulina and Dia Ja’s art is a lush pleasure, the setting is delivered with skill and detail, the physical context has a strong physical presence and the cast are completely at home in it. The move naturally and are highly expressive, the action is flowing and effective, the quiet moments are full of interest as the body language and the attitudes of the cast are vivid and clear.

Bryan Valenza’s colours are so natural as to almost not be noticed; they are just so right that it takes a second to realise just how much work they are doing. The bring out the details of the story, the context, and the cast and invite the reader into the story. The blue of the glow is subtly different, it is clearly something other, but it never draws attention from the rest of the scenes.

Nic Shaw’s letters, with one glaring exception, are models of clarity and ease of reading, they flow naturally with the art and never distract the reader. The lettering on the creator information page is appalling, it is a triumph of style over legibility. I wrestled with it to understand the content and was frustrated by the cunning way the script and page colour combined defied my attempts. I finally had to consult a different Mythopeia comic to be able to establish some basic information.

Glow is a luscious comic, the confident start to an engaging story delivered by a wonderfully talented crew.