I am a Cullen Bunn fan, so I am perhaps a little biased - The Sixth Gun remains one of my most favorite comics EVER. I know that he can be a bit of a slow burn as well, and this volume is very much an introduction to a new story.

Sisters Sommer and Winter find themselves in Sweden, their writer father bringing the family to a remote cabin for writing inspiration. While there they run into some mysterious statues and then... things happen. The world of their father's stories seems to come to life here, and the parents end up kidnapped with just the kids around to save them. With a mysterious and powerful sword, they find their way to the Autumn Kingdom, a land of fae.

The story is just an introduction so far (it is Volume 1) and I don't mind that because it's a wonderful, magical, creepy introduction. I know what Bunn is capable of and I am really looking forward to reading further issues.

The art by Christopher Mitten is decent - not my favorite style but still good. The coloring was beautiful.

I loved this! Magical and creepy are always a great combination!

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for the e-ARC of The Autumn Kingdom!
4 / 5 ⭐
The Autumn Kingdom is a grimdark Spiderwick Chronicles, a battle between fae and human in a land soaked with blood. I enjoyed the parallels between the two girls and their father’s book and the framing being split between them, and I’ve never read about a magic sword I didn’t want to know more about.

A promising start to a new faerie comic series, I look forward to seeing how Winter and Sommer’s story continue to parallel their father’s novels.

I received an ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.

Written by Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by Christopher Mitten
Colored by Francesco Segalia
Lettered by Taylor Eposito
Color Flatting by Sabrina del Grosso

The Autumn Kingdom is a dual narrative comic that follows the family of a dark fantasy author focusing on his daughters, Sommer and Winter. When staying in a cabin in the woods the girls find strange statues near the house and that night their parents are abducted by the monstrous minions of the Fair Folk. This sends the sisters on an epic quest with a magic sword to try to rescue their parents from the Autumn Kingdom. Interspersed and acting as somewhat of a mirror for the events is their father's story about two elven sisters locked in an eternal battle, one wielding a cursed ghost blade and the other controlling infernal powers.

I am a big fan of the monstrous and horrifying nature of the Fair Folk and thoroughly enjoyed the designs and portrayal here, especially the knight riding a centipede dragon lion!
This does some interesting things with fae lore with the classic blood sacrifice abducting mortals, but with the twist of it somehow becoming necessary because of the greed and blood spilled by mortals.

The writing is great. The art captures the dark fantasy fairytale elements beautifully. It's chock-full of atmosphere, dreamlike and nightmarish.

I had a thoroughly good time and am incredibly excited to read more!

The artwork is stunning-- the use of color is amazing, and I would have enjoyed this just for that. I liked the story too though, and I hope that we get more about these sisters and their adventures. I loved how the girls have to rescue their parents.

It's fun to see Bunn taking on more of a fantasy horror storyteller seat here, especially with a portal fantasy. Mitten in particular does a great job juxtaposing our reality with the fantasy world, and does some great color work as well. Well worth your time.

I really liked the premise of this story! An epic fantasy story with parallels to the real world? A fantasy world which is bloody, scary and gritty? Sign me up. The characters seem to be very layered and extremely mysterious and their actions will make you question their real motives. I really loved this volume and can't wait to read the next!