Monday, September 21, 2020

Hunt Your Sister, Hunt Whoever

That guy bears up under being burned better than I would. Of course, he's already dead. Perks of being a ghost, fire doesn't hurt as much.

The first volume of Isabellae collects the first three books of Raule and Gabor's story about a half-Gaelic (or at least Irish from before the Celts arrived), half-Japanese girl, trying to track down her sister, who she hasn't seen in 7 years. Their mother was a powerful witch/sorceress, who left Ireland and traveled to Japan, where she met a samurai and they had kids. Both the parents died around the same time, Siuko was banished, Isabellae narrowly avoided execution (after killing 13 grown-ass men for beheading her mother).

Isabellae accumulates allies as she goes along. A young bandit she didn't kill while pursuing a bounty, who is maybe just a little too decent for that work. A boy that isn't cut out for the monk lifestyle. A older warrior who lost everything that mattered to him. A suspiciously intelligent monkey.

All of that is part of some larger plan or destiny the two sisters are caught up in. Which is not really a

trope I enjoy in fiction, the fated characters. I prefer for characters to have control of their own choices, and if they get mixed up in something, it's their choice, or bad luck. It is argued that Siuko and Isabellae have a choice, that they could deny what they're supposed to do, so long as they're prepared to deal with consequences. 

However, given the forces at work literally dropped an angel (or some strange creature with wings) in Isabellae's path to present her with a test, it's hard for me to think they aren't pulling more strings beyond that. But I guess I better buy the second volume and see how things play out.

There is an element of the fantastic, intermingled with the more everyday challenges. A sea voyage finds Isabellae trying to protect an advisor of the Emperor in the midst of a power struggle, but also ends up with her and her party on a ship full of reanimated corpses. The angel landed in a village struggling through a poor growing season, so he's either blamed as an omen, or seen as something they can sacrifice to reverse their fortunes. It makes things just a little more interesting, since you aren't sure what they might run into next.

Gabor's art style reminds me a little of David Baldeon, in the smoothness of the faces, shapes of characters' heads and noses. Most of the linework is lighter or thinner than Baldeon's, though. G

abor saves the thicker lines for heavy brows or faces scrunched in anger or pain. Doesn't exaggerate facial expressions quite as much. There's a good flow in the fights, how one move sets up the next. Gory when necessary, but I wouldn't call it excessive for the level of violence. But I may not be a fair judge of that.

As far as I can tell, Gabor handles the color work as well. Fight scenes, at least ones where Isabellae's feeling something strongly, tend to be done in shades of red. Like she's in a blood haze or fury. It contrasts nicely with the softer background colors in most of the other scenes. When they're just traveling, there's a sort of washed out effect to the skies or the surrounding landscape. The flashbacks to things from the girls' childhoods are often much more brightly colored, although red again seems to play a major role.

Grousing about destiny and fated stuff aside, this is easily one of the most enjoyable comics I bought this year.

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