Chaos Reigns

We start with gloom and dark portent, as Henrietta is orphaned and then summoned from her orphanage to a strange town to receive a creepy surprise inheritance. The town of Malrenard holds many secrets, they all seem to involve Henrietta and her deceased wizard relative, and the townspeople all mutter dark and eldritch hints. This builds to a splashy reveal of the wizard's mansion, which is beautifully conceived, drawn, and colored, and is as strange, magical, and threatening as you could hope for.

At this point we go a bit cartoony, and turn from darkness to a lighter and more chaotic tale. There are many warring factions of squatters, residents, and invaders lurking and charging about the wizard's tower, and Henrietta is caught in the middle. Immediately, Henrietta is, in turns, chased, dragged, whisked, pushed, pulled, and harried about, without knowing who is who or what is what. There are silly soldiers and a ragtag band of adventurers captained by a charming rogue. And other "things" as well. And the Tower may be sentient. Ultimately, the exasperated Henrietta declares she doesn't "care about magic, hidden vaults, bandits, or quiche wars".

But then we switch gears again. A painting of the Wizard opens another chapter that turns dark, and we enter a period of both silly suspense and dark humor. We end up back at a ripping magical adventure, and Henrietta decides to call upon the heroine-within, just in time for a cliff-hanger ending.

So, is this a dark fantasy graphic novel, or a Scooby-Doo comic book, or a magical adventure quest, or a haunted house story, or a coming-of-age young girl story, or maybe even a light romance? Yes, probably.

My bottom line was this - the art is crisp, well inked, and especially well colored. Characters are more cartoonish than realistic, but are surprisingly expressive for all that. The story is laid out on classic bones, but lots of twists and turns mean any particular scene or development is unpredictable. Henrietta is already a worthy heroine. So, I'm game to follow where this leads, even though it feels like it's going to take a while.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)