Rating: 8.0/10
Synopsis
From #1 New York Times Bestselling, Hugo Award-winning author, Brandon Sanderson (The Mistborn Trilogy, The Stormlight Archive series), along with Nathan Gooden, Jackson Lanzing, and Collin Kelly, comes Dark One, the first book in a series of original graphic novels, from Vault Comics. Some worlds are made to be broken. Paul Tanasin is a young man haunted by visions of a dark and fantastic world?visions he initially believes are hallucinations. But when he discovers they are prophecies from Mirandus, a world in which he’s destined to become a fearsome destroyer, he’ll have to embrace the fear, rise up as the Dark One, and shatter everything. Dark One examines the dual roles we often take on in life-the ability to be a savior as well as a destroyer.
Review
This review contains minor spoilers. You have been warned 😉
I did not want this to end.
Period.
This comic was so good that I already was having a blast reading it. Fantastic drawings, fantastic world-building, and the story in itself were easy to follow. It has an epic map cover, one which I want to see more of in this book. There teases of different cultures, and I saw a Roman-Greek-style culture that I wanted to see more of. I’ve loved graphic novels. This is what a graphic novel should be. Fun, easy to read, but it is very brutal in many senses. This is a wonderful introduction to a brand new world and one which I think is worth following. Very well written in my opinion.
The dialogue was very well written. Written by the master writer, Brandon Sanderson and the amazing writers, Lanzing and Kelly, they did a good job of distinguishing the worlds separating themselves from the earth. However, I was not convinced of a few things. First, I understood the concept of the Narrative and how fates and destinies are intertwined. Second, I was unsure of Paul Tanasin was in a sense, able to adapt to situations very quickly, and then becomes kind of adapted into his role. I don’t think he figures out what the clear distinctions are between the light and the dark as of yet, for he has much to learn. Surely, a Dark One can spread light as well? A Dark One does not always need to be evil in my opinion. And what is evil but a reflection of our dark desires? And what is good but a reflection of our good desires? And what happens when the two converge? That I feel is a very interesting arc that should be explored in this brand new series. I felt this area needed more expansion here. Otherwise, the character and worldbuilding was very well done in my opinion
Paul is a good character, but I think he needs to spend time with more characters that can better evoke his personality. The Drull character that serves him is a wonderful addition. His sister’s soul has been with him since his childhood, for example, Sometimes I think the distinctions between the Light and the Dark can become a little too complicated to follow. Paul’s mother is a good character that I think we need more exploration as well. There was a certain backdrop in the comic that I would have wanted to see more development off in my opinion.
213 pages does not cut it. This could have been more longer in my opinion, but I can understand that the reason it is like this is that it’s trying to introduce the reader into the world. I felt that we sped too fast between earth and this new fantastical world of fantasy. Instead, in the next sequel I would want a slower, paced approach and to make Paul’s character witness the events around him in far more detail. There is a bigger world here. There is more of a world to explore, cultures to see. I don’t just want it to be a case of dark vs light, because this comic clearly shows what the grey veil is between dark and light, but I want to explore the world, I want to see what new wonders, what new mysteries I will uncover here. And Krasis – I need more of an explanation with him. I understood he’s a brutal character, but I felt there’s more to uncover about him.
Otherwise, these were just my suggestions. In my opinion, a massive fantasy world like this will take time in successive installaments to introduce more character growth. A fantasy series takes to mature and you can then really get involved. So this is the start of something wonderful. Something really wonderful. I cannot wait to see what else is going to come in this unique universe. 8/10 from me.
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