Early Review: The Forgotten Queen #1
As a fan of Anne Rice, I have always been instantly attracted to every book she created. The Vampire Chronicles series gave fans a different view of what a vampire is and should be. It introduced the world to the Vampire Lestat and his twisted group of fellow regal bloodsuckers, who were both enigmatically magnetic and terrifying at the same. One of the more interesting characters in her pantheon is Queen Akasha who was introduced in the Queen Of The Damned.
The book introduced us to this Queen of Vampires whose reign was cruel and absolute and had long holds on the memories of many of the Vampires who were around then. She would end up waking up 600 years later with a new way forward for Vampires unleashing a new evil into the world. The book itself continued Rice’s tradition of melding sensuality with horror. In The Forgotten Queen from writer Tini Howard, we get a supernatural being quite like Queen Akasha.
In the first few pages we find some marine biologists, excavating an abandoned site where instead of finding artifacts they find someone, who looks like pure evil. The reader is also transported to 1200 AD, under the rule of Genghis Khan where we meet the woman known simply by the name War Monger who has been around since Cain and Abel. She has a destiny, to intercede on history’s greatest events including Khan’s. In the present, the underwater crew find that what seems like a simply biological fact-finding mission is something much more inexplicable.
Overall, the first issue is a rousing and intensely woven story about a true “power broker” who can tip the scale just by the power of suggestion. The story by Howard is smartly written and well developed. The art by Amilcar Pinna is alluring and vivid. Altogether, a great first issue which starts off in the most blockbuster of ways.
Story: Tini Howard Art: Amilcar Pinna
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy
Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
