Birthright #1

The Team

Written by Joshua Wiliamson (Nailbiter, Ghosted), illustrated by Andrei Bressan and coloured by Adriano Lucas.
 

The Story:

A little boy plays catch with his father while his family prepares his birthday surprise party. The boy then mysteriously disappears into the forest and so begins a search party. Fast forward one year and a grown man clad in armour is wandering the forest in the same vicinity where the boy originally vanished. Who is this mysterious man? Who ever he is, he’s the first solid clue the authorities have had ever since the boy disappeared on that sunny day. But when the man is interrogated and the facts start adding up, the answer is too crazy and too fantastical to believe. 
 

Pros & Cons:

This new series is a fairytale set in modern times and has elements of adventure storytelling with fantastical creatures like Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia. There are elements of mythical monsters, good vs. evil, mystery and dimension hopping. It’s a weird coincidence that this comic and the movie Gone Girl are released at pretty much the same time. I won’t spoil anything for both stories, but suffice it to say that both stories deal with the mysterious disappearance of a loved one, other loved ones are suspected of involvement and both endings have very similar twists (actually this first issue has a bonus twist at the end that I didn’t see coming at all).
 
World building in any story, whether its in a novel, a comic or a TV series is extremely challenging for a writer and even though it’s only the very first issue, it’s off to a great start. Writer Joshua Williamson hits all the right marks with this first issue; the protagonist and the antagonist are introduced, the characters set up the story, which flows extremely well given this out of this world plot and there’s a great sense of mystery as well. The dialogue is very good, as characters deal with themes of loss, confusion and, oh yeah, conversations between trolls and human sized fairy like people called gideons.
 
The illustrations by Andrei Bressan, with the help of colorist Adriano Lucas are truly breath taking. Light colours and the right amount of shade make both worlds come to life with every panel. I love a comic with lots of large vivid one page panels that have a minimum of dialogue, but speak a thousand words as the actions are displayed with painstaking details.
 
 

 

Final Verdict:

Remember that feeling you got when you watched The Neverending Story or Goonies? Or when you read your very first Harry Potter novel? Now grant it, the Harry Potter books were published when I was already an adult, but I’m trying to illustrate a point here. That innocence we had as children when adventure is displayed in front of our eyes and that sense of wonder that only a kid can dream of. That’s how I felt with Birthright and I’m hoping to get that feeling every single month.