Songs for the Dead Book One.
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This one is a bit harder to review. I'll be honest I started off not really feeling it at all, something just didn't seem to click with me. But once I got into the story and it progressed past the first issue then things began to pick up. At the final page I was actually wanting more.
Everything in here revolves around the character of Bethany, a minstrel who wants so badly to be an adventurer, just like the ones she sings about. But she's young, not that experienced, oh and one more thing, she's a necromancer. Now not the evil brooding twisted type of necromancer many of us have grown to hate in roleplaying games. But the kind who can speak with and resurrect the dead but wants to help them find peace and justice. Only most folks don't like those who command the deceased no matter their intentions.
Of course not everything goes according to plan and she rapidly ends up prisoner of one Lord Rolland. This conniving bastard wants to use her to further his goals and plans which is something she wants nothing of. Things are looking pretty bleak until she meets up with Elissar, a seasoned fighter who is simply trying to get by in the world as a sword for hire. The two kick off an unlikely friendship as they go searching for those who will accept Bethany while getting a few coins along the way.
It's a great mix of humor, fantasy, some rough fantasy action and friendship. Something that is hard to pull off but they manage to do so. It even made my cynical self smile a little.
Written by Andrea Fort and Michael Christopher Heron. You can tell these two love the story and the characters they have created. So much detail and personality has been put into the main two characters that you gain a real sense of understanding by the end of this first volume. I just didn't think the writing was that solid in the first issue. But I will fully admit that after that it picks up rather quickly, almost as if they got their footing before taking off for the sprint. By issue three they're doing amazing and the final issue four just keeps on moving in that direction.
Artwork is done by Sam Beck. Again on that first issue I wasn't to hyped up for the artwork either. But he followed in the same steps as the writers and just got better as the story progressed. That and his particular style grew on me and it fit really well with the lightheartedness that is laced throughout the comic.
All in all I'm giving this one a solid four out of five stars. If that first issue could have captured the same energy and dynamic that was in the others then it would have been a five. But that start felt rough, like a hump to get over. In the end though I want to read book two, I'm actually looking forward to finding out what happens. That's what really matters. It gets that hook into the reader.
Pick it up for 7.99 right now over on DrivethruComics.
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