The concluding chapter to the first arc of By The Horns hits like a hammer. There’s going to be very minor spoilers after this paragraph, so the condensed version of the review is: go buy this book (or the entire series).

Markisan Naso gas written one of the best issues he’s ever produced, which surprises me only when you compare this book against a library that is stacked with excellence and it still rises to the top. Within the pages of By The Horns #7 Naso is able to make the antagonist seem very sympathetic without explicitly revealing the reasons behind her actions. I don’t remember how I went from seeing her as the Final Boss to seeing her as more than that. but suddenly there it was – it’s subtly and expertly done.

The sequences that Naso has written within the comic allow the artistic side of the creative team, artist Jason Muhr and colourist Andrei Tabacaru, to showcase some spectacular layouts and visual queues. The art has been remarkably consistent throughout the eight issue run, and dare I say that By The Horns #8 is the highest point of an excellent run? Indeed I do. The tipping point is a series of splash panels that play with the preconceptions that traditional comics may have ingrained into you; three vertical splash pages. The events told over those half dozen pages play out beautifully in the space that Muhr creates. I’ve said it before, and I’ll doubtless say it again; “As always, Muhr and Tabacaru are brilliant. I’m not running out of ways to describe how much I love the art in this book, but I fear my metaphors and analogies are becoming increasingly more erratic and far reaching as I try to put words to (digital) paper in order to capture art that is amongst the best I’ve seen all year. By The Horns is an utterly gorgeous series.”

As you can imagine, this entire issue focuses on the conflict between Elodie and Feng Po, and while there’s a very satisfying conclusion, there are still enough lingering questions to pull you back for the next issue. Elodie’s journey over the first eight issues of the series, both the physical and the emotional, has been riveting and I’ve found myself invested in this character and her companions like few others over the years. By The Horns #8 is a cracking conclusion to the first arc, with the creative team showing why they should have a reputation as one of the best around; I’ll be shocked if you’re not hearing big things from them in the future. This comic is truly something special.

You’re doing yourself a disservice if you’re not reading By The Horns. The next issue will come out Spring 2022. I can’t wait.

Story: Markisan Naso Art/Lettering: Jason Muhr Colors: Andrei Tabacaru
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy

Scout Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Scout Comics – Zeus Comics – TFAW

I feel like a broken record when I say that the short version of what you’re about to read is that once again, the creative team have delivered a brilliant comic. By The Horns #7 is another high quality entry in a series that keeps hitting new heights.

Written by Markisan Naso, with art by Jason Muhr and colours by Andrei Tabacaru, the comic picks up more or less where issue five left off before issue six took an origin/zero issue style break with Elodie, Sajen, Zoso and Evelyn continuing their quest. Albeit now instead of trying to kill the unicorns, Elodie is trying to save them after Zoso’s revelation that he could heal Elodie’s husband (whom I had assumed was dead and not in a coma, but after rereading the issues, I realized that was an assumption on my end as Shintaro was never explicitly stated as dead, only gone).

By The Horns #7 has a little flavor of everything we’ve seen in the series thus far; fantastical creatures in fully realized cultures, fast violence against vivid backdrops all set against an emotional story that will pull on different strings depending on what you’re feeling in the moment. The series as a whole has been very moving, both the ups and downs of the emotional spectrum, and sometimes the same scene can leave you with different feelings on a second reading. Naso’s storytelling has been utterly wonderful throughout the series.

As always, Muhr and Tabacaru are brilliant. I’m not running out of ways to describe how much I love the art in this book, but I fear my metaphors and analogies are becoming increasingly more erratic and far reaching as I try to put words to (digital) paper in order to capture art that is amongst the best I’ve seen all year. By The Horns is an utterly gorgeous series.

You’re doing yourself a disservice if you’re not reading By The Horns #7.

Story: Markisan Naso Art/Lettering: Jason Muhr Colors: Andrei Tabacaru
Story: 9.7 Art: 10 Overall: 9.8 Recommendation: Buy

Scout Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Scout Comics

Once again, the spoiler free too long; didn’t read of this review is go and buy By The Horns #6 because it’s freaking awesome.

One of the harder things to do in comics is a silent issue, because if the artist isn’t quite able to tell the story without the words to guide the reader then the comic can often fall flat. And so it was with some trepidation that I began reading this (actually I had to open a second version of the pdf to make sure that there wasn’t dialogue missing), because not only are silent issues tough to do right, but I also tend to enjoy one out of every five I’ve ever read. As you’ve probably guessed, By The Horns #6 is a silent issue (minus a couple of thought bubbles and some time-establishing text). I needn’t have worried, because Jason Muhr is a naturally gifted visual story teller.

Muhr’s artistic talents, along with colourist Andrei Tabacaru, brilliantly capture the emotions of Markisan Naso‘s script in such a way that you feel more like you’re watching people exist, live and breath on the other side of a window than you’re reading a comic. I’m not going to say that this is the best silent issue I’ve ever read, but I can’t think of any that are as good as this one (and I thought about it for a good few minutes). You don’t need words to experience the ups and downs in this comic as we follow Shintaro, Elodie’s husband, as he meets both Sajen and Elodie for the first time. We also get a more detailed look at what happened to Shintaro, making By The Horns #6 effectively the origin point of the series as a whole.

The story builds upon the previous issue’s cliffhanger, and while the flashback nature doesn’t push the plot forward per-se, it does ramp up the emotional tension and connection the reader has for the characters – which for me at least has the effect of investing me more in the story than I already was. And that’s a hell of an achievement for any comic , let alone a silent comic. I can’t wait for the next issue.

Story: Markisan Naso Art/Lettering: Jason Muhr Colors: Andrei Tabacaru
Story: 9.7 Art: 10 Overall: 9.8 Recommendation: Buy

Scout Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Scout Comics – TFAW

Once again, the too long; didn’t read of this review is go and buy By The Horns #5 because it’s another home run.

I am an unabashed fan of this creative team. The previous (and only) story they worked on together, the three Voracious miniseries, remains one of my favourite works in comics to this day, and with By The Horns shaping up to be every bit as good – maybe even better – than their debut with the team, to borrow a cliché, firing on all cylinders.

I could easily repeat a lot of what I said about the previous issue for By The Horns #5, minus the story specific details, obviously, because there’s not a lot for me to talk about beyond how much I enjoyed the book. I’ve read it multiple times at this point, and I am yet to tire of it. Muhr and Tabacaru are putting out some of the very best work I’ve seen with, infusing the pages with a vivid lusciousness that sets the comic apart from the heavy, darker colours you see used so often these days. The comic looks like how a breath of fresh air feels like after exiting a stifling room (or a nightclub/pub when you could still smoke inside). The art isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, mind, but the pages are still vibrant.

Once again, Naso delivers on the story; allowing some of the personal rifts within the book’s characters to rear their heads finally reveals the tension that the audience has seen brewing. But it’s how he caps the book off that’s really cool – yes, there’s a cliff hanger, but the implications of what was said are going to be felt for awhile yet (and make this the hardest wait for the next book yet.

Overall, By The Horns #5 is once again evidence as to why Naso, Muhr and Tabacaru are a team to keep on your radar. Scout have an excellent series here, and I hope that we get to see a lot more of Elodie and Sajen in the future (note that this isn’t the end of the series, just my personal wish that the ongoing continues for a long time).

Story: Markisan Naso Art/Lettering: Jason Muhr Colors: Andrei Tabacaru
Story: 9.7 Art: 9.8 Overall: 9.8 Recommendation: Buy

Scout Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Scout Comics – TFAW