Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Dragons
Written by Daniel Bayliss
Art by Daniel Bayliss Archaia
This is a book which is less comic and more a really cool children’s book.
Daniel Bayliss’ art is quite stunning, especially when he turns his attention to the mythical creatures in the tale; the thunderbirds and the horned serpent.
The story is one of a father and a son and that always special relationship, this one set again a tale of First Nations’ lore.
While at 55 the book was an OK read, any comic is ultimately OK because they do not require hours of your reading time, this one would rocket to the top marks if I had a grandson to perch on my knee and read it too.
Young children will no doubt simply marvel at the bright art, while older ones will begin to grasp the underlying message of that bound between father, and son.
So if you want a great story to share with children, grab this one, it fills the bill ideally.
The Fuse Vol #1 (The Russia Shift)
Written by Antony Johnston
Art by Justin Greenwood
Image Comics
The Fuse was not exactly on my radar, until I read about it being a cop procedural on a space station.
That caught my attention, and as a basic cop story, chasing down a murder suspect, it was entertaining.
That is not to say it was without flaws.
The art by Justin Greenwood is a bit inconsistent, with character looks being a bit undefined from page to page.
The art style is also sort of ‘Saturday morning cartoon’. That is not the usual style for cop comics these days. This book could have been done in dark, gritty tones, think Scalped or Criminal, and worked just as well, if not more effectively.
Still the look is different than you might expect, and difference is not always a bad thing. By the midway point the art was just there, although future volumes do need a bit more attention to consistency of look.
The story was solid, but perhaps a bit uninspired.
The murder is on a space station, and we barely get a look at the place.
There is very little that makes this feel like a ‘space’ story.
The ‘race riots’ that are referenced could have happened in any major U.S. city, and are not about being in space.
‘Cablers’ are simply street people with again noting unique about being in space.
I can buy into the possibility writer Antony Johnston is trying to get across the idea life is life wherever we may go, and that crime will simply be crime in space as it is on earth. However, set a story on a massive space station most readers will want a space tale. That was missing.
Hopefully moving forward Johnston will take us into the science of the station, the uniqueness of the setting.
Still, I did like this enough I’ll be delving into Vol. II soon.
