One of the appeals of both team books and D&D campaigns is the fun that comes of throwing a bunch of disparate characters together and seeing how they interact/combust. Kendra Wells' Real Hero Shit is a team book, set in the sort of European medieval fantasy world like one might encounter in a D&D campaign. Big stone castle, rustic villages with wood slat roofs, that sort of thing. Michel, Hocus, and Ani are a traveling party in need of a good fighter, and the kingdom's prince, Eugene, applies to join. After a brief test spar, which Wells draws to good effect, and highlights the characters' differing approaches (Michel likes to attack from blind spots, Eugene stands his ground but jumps to conclusions), Eugene is on the team.
Michel's a thief, observant, reserved and serious. Hocus is a cleric, who also carries a war hammer. Kind, polite, steadfast in their convictions. Ani's a mage, outspoken, sarcastic (which is probably why she was my favorite character), quick-tempered. Edward's tendency to treat things as a lark, as well as his being endlessly horny, quickly irritates the hell out of Ani.
While the arguing is entertaining, and Wells uses it to hint at Ani's backstory, it also ends up leading to the two characters fucking. Yes, once again it's the "Constant Arguing = Sexual Tension" trope! Quite possibly my least favorite thing in all of fiction! Oh joy.
Moving on. Wells is quite good at working glimpses of the characters' histories, or the world's for that matter, without dragging the story to a halt for exposition. When we learn through Ani why there aren't many mages like her, it's in the middle of her angrily responding to an insult hurled at her by the equivalent of a clergyman. It's airing a grievance that we get the impression Ani carries with her for a long time. Since Wells has established Ani is not shy about telling people what she thinks of them, it doesn't seem out of place.
Likewise, when we learn a bit about Michel's childhood, it's in the midst of an unexpected reunion with a long-lost friend. The other characters are just as in the dark as the reader, so an explanation - not so vague as to be useless, nor so detailed as to draw out for pages - is perfectly understandable.
The book is a third done when they reach the village where the disappearances are taking place, but Wells has used that time to establish the outlines of the characters' interactions, which leaves time to spend on investigating the mystery, fleshing out Michel's backstory, and the whole thing with Ani and Eugene. It's also allowed for some lighthearted scenes, which allows the darker turn in the back half to have a little more punch. Wells can simplify or exaggerate their art for comedic effect, as well as things like placing a little character head/emoji next to a speech bubble if that character isn't otherwise present in the panel.
It's still a straightforward problem and solution, but again, Wells seems to be using this to lay groundwork for future stories. Eugene is presented as being very pleased with himself, and Michel points out a ruler's decisions will rarely be so neat and tidy. It'd be interesting to see whether the art shows any shift to match the tone of the stories if things did grow more complicated. The coloring remained bright (Amanda Lafrenais is credited for color flatting), even during the nighttime scenes, which made everything easy to read, always appreciated. Would things get murkier? The characters do occasionally get dirty or wounded (nothing graphic), but it's easily cleaned up. Would that change as the work got dirtier?
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