All’s fair in love and war!

True to the name she’s been called throughout history, the War-Monger knows how to get a good fight going among even the best of friends. The outcome of the battle never mattered to her – at least, not until she fell head over heels for the Mongol Empire’s most fearsome warrior. She can poison hearts against one another…but can she win one for herself?

The Forgotten Queen #2 focuses more on the motivations of Vexana, the War Monger, as we glimpse her trying to win the heart of a warrior queen in the late 13th century. Though not explicitly a flashback sequence, the glimpses into the past are told as a story within a story as the research team learn more about the mysterious armour that they’ve retrieved from the sea bed.

This issue seems to fall somewhere between good and really good; it’s a comic of moments that almost blend together seamlessly, but like a slide at a water park, you can feel the edges even if you don’t necessarily see them as you zip down the covered tube. Tini Howard peels away a couple of layers on the onion that is Vexana, but the lack of cohesive flow to the comic detracts a little from the story’s characterization of its lead. The ideas and intent present in the comic are very interesting, but the ridges on the slide are a touch distracting.

Amilcar Pinna and Ulises Arreola to flex their collective artistic muscles with sweeping vistas and vibrant colours across land and sea, but, to return to the previous analogy, you can still feel the ridges in the slide. Facial expressions, body language and the figures themselves do feel a little off at times. Nothing hugely distracting, but certainly noticeable when it comes to your eyes following the page.

Ultimately, this is still a solid entry in the series, though it falls far from being a Must Read, it is still worth checking out if you’ve read the first issue. Yes, there’s still room for improvement over the next two issues, but even if things continue as they’re going, Forgotten Queen will remain an above average read.

Story: Tini Howard Art: Amilcar Pinna
 Colours: Ulises Arreola Letters: Jeff Powel 
Story: 8.1 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Read

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review