What I Bought 6/23/2018 - Part 2

For the other book I was looking for from two weeks ago, I have a special bonus. Because I also found the first issue, which I missed when it was initially released in May. Hooray!

Coda #1 and 2, by Simon Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist), Michael Doig (color assists), Colin Bell (letterer) - For issue #1, I wound up with the Jae Lee cover, who is not one of my favorite artists. The man simply will not draw backgrounds. The characters exist in some bizarre fog world.

The main character, who merely responds "Hm" when asked his name, is a former bard trying to get enough of a magical substance to barter with a mermaid queen for a weapon that will let him rescue his love from a horde of warrior, orc, troll things. The world they live in is either slowly dying, or slowly changing, after one of those Dark Lord types succeeded in destroying everything. Thus, the magic substance is scarce. Hm thought he'd found a source, but couldn't get to it. Now the town that has it is about to be attacked by an entire city of bandits being towed by the final giant in the world.

I read a comment last month somewhere - probably on Wait, What? - where someone said they weren't digging this, because they felt Spurrier had done a much better job building a world that felt fully realized in Spire. I can't argue with that, Spire was good. I think his goal with the two stories is different. Here, he's playing on our familiarity with the genre conventions of the whole Tolkein style sword and sorcery stuff, and making it post-apocalyptic. He can use some shorthand about the world because we already have a general idea of what these worlds are like normally. Coda is what happens if the Ring doesn't get thrown back into Mount Doom, or insert the fantasy world disaster of your choice. It lets Spurrier and Bergara have some fun showing what's become of the different types of characters one might encounter, of how people get by. It's working for me so far.

Bergara's art keeps reminding me of something, but I can't place it. He has a light pencil line, mostly for Hm (with other characters, the linework seems heavier). Maybe it's just because Hm is so quiet most of the time, disinterested in most of what's happening. He's focused on his one goal, and whatever the rest of the people are scrambling for is of no interest. Bergara uses shadow effectively to suggest detail and mood. He can go simple when he needs to exaggerate for effect, or detailed when he wants to really show off a location. The pacing is good - the appearance of the bard's steed was an attention-getter - and the few fight scenes have a good flow from one panel to the next.

With the colors, the remnants of the old world tend to be much brighter and more vivid. The green of the acker, or the lights in the illusion the senile old wizard is casting without realizing it. When those fade, or the characters step into another room, everything is that much duller. Hm's clothes, the walls and buildings, they all pale in comparison. Because people won't let go of what's lost, and tend to buff out the inconvenient aspects of the past, remembering only what suits their narratives.

Hm may very well be guilty of the same thing. The bandit, Notch, certainly thinks so, but there could be reasons why Hm's hope is justified. I want to see what happens, where this goes. Hm is going to have to get between that giant-propelled bandit fortress and the town with all the magic stuff. How he's going to go about it, and how involved he intends to get, I don't know. He said he thinks underdogs are the ones who need to be thrown a bone, but that doesn't mean he'll be the one to do it. Although the city is going to be better defended than the bandits are expecting thanks to him, so maybe he did them a solid already.