From writer Joshua Williamson and artist Andrei Bressan comes the latest issue of the dark fantasy epic Birthright – my choice for Best New Comic Series of 2014. Check out our review of issue #11.
Snatched from his life by beings from another world, Mikey became a hero whose destiny was to save the land of Terrenos. A grown man hardened by battles with dragons, trolls, and evil mages, Mikey is back to save Earth from the same peril that threatened Terrenos in this series by Joshua Williamson (NAILBITER, GHOSTED) and Andrei Bressan that turns fantasy into reality.
It’s been a while since there was an issue of Birthright and I missed it – a lot. After kicking off another brand new story arc, Joshua Williamson and Andrei Bressan have delivered an extra-large sized issue that is almost entirely set in Terrenos. It was AWESOME. There’s been a time jump in terms of Mikey’s flashbacks and we see him a little bit older, still quite a bit inexperienced but definitely able to fend for himself as you’ll see….
Bressan had his work cut out for him this issue having to draw some fairly incredible large scale action set pieces. We have dragon riders, howling cave dwellers and axes swinging left and right. Issue 11 of Birthright is by far the most intense and impressive issue yet of the series and most of it took place in Terrenos. That’s not to say the action on Earth is lacking, I just dig the hell out of Bressan’s visuals of the fantasy world. I wanna live there – vicariously of course – because it’s scary as shit.
In this chapter we get a deeper look into the presence that is controlling Mikey and how it operates. I’m happy that Williamson is deciding to really dig into that aspect of our lead character as opposed to just having it be this “sneaky” evil side of him that is never addressed head on by other characters. As the issue comes to a close, it looks like we’ll be exploring yet another type of “possession” and I’m excited to see how that all plays out.
Birthright continues to be such an original and awe-inspiring piece of fantasy work and issue 11 is the beginning of yet another promising arc that I can’t wait to see unfold. What a helluva way to kick it off.
Rating: [star rating=”4.5″]