Publisher: Archaia
Rating: WORTHY!
DISCLOSURE: Unlike the majority of reviews in this blog, I've neither bought this book nor borrowed it from the library. This is a "galley" copy ebook, supplied by Net Galley. I'm not receiving (nor will I expect to receive or accept) remuneration of any kind for this review. Since this is a new novel, this review is less detailed so as not to rob the writer of their story, but even so, it will probably still be more in-depth than you'll typically find elsewhere!
Michael Dialynas woodencrown.com - artist
Meg Gandy shatterlands.com - artist
Amei Zhao ameizhao.com - artist
Sam Bosma sbosma.com - artist
Josh Tierney spera-comic.com
Additional material:
Afu Chan afuchan.com
Corey Godbey coreygodby.com
Giannis Milongiannis milonogiannis.tumblr.com - artist
Rebecca Mock rebeccamock.tumblr.com artist
Ken Niimura niimurablog.blogspot.com
Kyla Vanderklugt Kylavanderklugt.com
Jake Wyatt jakewyattriot.tumblr.com
This will be a short review compared with my usual because this is a comic book and if I say too much I'll be telling the whole story! But in short, I enjoyed this comic even though it was designed for a younger audience than I represent.
This comic book is volume three of a tale of the young rebel princesses Lono and Pira, and some friends including a fire fox (not to be confused with the web browser) called Yonder, who can also appear as a fiercely red-bearded man, and their trusty cat called Chobo which is a lot smarter than it looks. This story is very much invested in east Asian fantasy, and the crew find themselves engaged in some really weird and entertaining adventures as they try to find their place in the world, stay out of trouble, and pursue treasure. I recommend this because it’s playful and interesting, and it really knows how to take you by surprise.
This comic seems aimed at a younger audience: the lower end of young-adult, and the pubescent and older pre-pubescent children. There is a main story, which entertained me, but which I did find a bit confusing at times as to what was going on and who was doing what and why. It would probably have been easier to follow had I started at volume 1! In addition to the main story there are some supporting features - like the movie theaters used to show at one time long ago, with the main feature plus a supporting movie. I have to say that the Pira depicted in the supporting material in the 140's pages is far more appealing to me than is the one in the main story. She's feisty and sword-weilding, and cool-looking, and she's also black - and that's one thing I really became aware of: there weren't too many people of color populating this comic book. I'm not sure why that was.
But that aside, I enjoyed Spera and think it’s worth your taking a look if you have children who are the right age range, and they’re at all interested in Asian fantasy.
