Taarna is a property I know so little of. Other than some images, it’s a character I haven’t read comics of or seen on the big/small screen. So, with Taarna #1, I thought it’d be a good opportunity to check it out and can say, it’s not what I was expecting at all.
Taarna is a character that I expected to be a female Conan. I went in to read the comic and was taken back when it wasn’t so much sword and sorcery as it was Kirby cosmic.
Writer Stephanie Phillips uses Taarna #1 as an introduction to the character delivering an epic scale of a story involving a dying sun threatening to engulf a planet. It’s the type of bombastic, over the top, imagery that you’d expect in a big budget film.
From a sun dying and people being saved, to a “god” falling from the sky, the story is an epic scale of a start. It cements Taarna as a powerful being. It also establishes her as one who works on a grand scale. Starvation of the people or lack of medicine aren’t pleas she hears. A world about to be engulfed in flames is. She’s aloof in a way creating an interesting character to explore and see more of.
The art by Patrick Zircher is solid. Zircher is joined by Jessica Kholinne on color and those pop from the page. There’s a great combination of the two. They capture both the tender moments of a people witnessing their death and that of an individual taking on a sun. On a marco and micro scale the visuals work and it works well switching between the two without it seeing a bit silly. Marshall Dillon handles the lettering. Dillon brings a flair of sword & sorcery fantasy to the comic with narration boxes whose lettering evokes that a bit. It adds a bit of classic fantasy to a cosmic adventure.
Taarna #1 isn’t what I expected and that’s not a bad thing at all. It fuses classic fantasy with futuristic cosmic adventures. It does it on a massive scale. It’s not the rogue warrior battling on the landscape that I’d expect. Instead it’s a deity like being protecting an entire planet and taking on a dying sun. I was off in those expectations. It’s an interesting start. It doesn’t reveal too much but gives you just enough to come back. The details and depth are traded for spectacle resulting in a first issue that makes me want to come back for more.
Story: Stephanie Phillips Art: Patrick Zircher
Color: Jessica Kholinne Letterer: Marshall Dillon
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy
Heavy Metal provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: comiXology – Kindle – Heavy Metal
