4 out of 5
From the Great White North: Spirit Leaves
As I was perusing through the comic book store I came across a comic with a pale, elf-like, character on the cover. I opened it up, flipped through a few pages, and was immediately caught off guard by Spirit Leaves stunning art.
Normally, I wouldn’t write a review on a comic that only has one issue out but Spirit Leaves has left me with more than enough to say. As I was perusing through the comic book store, as I do every Wednesday, I came across a comic with a pale, elf-like, character on the cover. I opened it up, flipped through a few pages, and was immediately caught off guard by Spirit Leaves stunning art. I decided to buy it and give it a read. The comic is printed by the Canadian publisher Chapter House Comics which, unless you’re a big Captain Canuck reader, you’ve probably never heard of them, I know I hadn’t. Spirit Leaves is by Scottish born, now Canadian based writer and artist, Rossi Gifford.
The story follows two Bryan Lee O’Malley-esque designed characters Skoll and Freya. Skoll is a wolf boy from “the pack” a group that consists of the best hunters in the forest. Freya is an albino deer girl from “the herd” a group of shamans. Both Skoll and Freya leave their respective groups to go find a demon that has been terrorizing the forest they both live in. During Freya’s trek through the forest she accidentally triggers one of Skoll’s traps. Skoll saves her from the trap, the two decide to team up, and together kill the demon. Freya will take the demon’s head to her tribe and Skoll will take the demon’s body to his, so that the two of them can both earn their tribes respect.
Freya’s shaman upbringing makes her an interesting protagonist. She looks at her woodland world through wholistic eyes. When she first begins talking with Skoll he talks about how he hunts deer. Freya (the deer girl) takes no offense to this statement and answers “It’s natural and part of the balance.” So, under any other circumstance Skoll would have no problem killing Freya and she would have no problem being killed as long as it maintained the balance the forest needs. I love this, it’s such a unique thought process for a protagonist. At the same time, Freya and Skoll have this dynamic of ‘she’s the innocent deer-girl from down the block and he’s the bad wolf-boy who was born on the wrong side of the tracks’ that I’m excited to see how their story together plays out.
Like I said earlier, I normally wouldn’t review a comic that only has one issue out. This is because in the first issue of a comic a lot of groundwork has to be laid. The characters must be introduced, the fictitious world must be established, the mood must be set, and, on top of all that, the plot needs to be enacted. The first issue having to do all of these things sometimes leaves the overall story stunted. It’s difficult to move a story forward while still installing the previously mentioned elements. Spirit Leaves does just that and incorporates everything you hope for in a first issue seamlessly.
There are no panels in this book. You read right, a comic book with no panels, that’s what sets this book apart from everything else. Every page is a masterpiece. When properly executed, a page can completely immerse you into the story as you fluidly read through the page like a stream flowing downhill. Although, there is a page or two where you can get lost and read out of order. I ended up having to study a few pages for several minutes just to figure out what exactly was going on. Getting lost happens a lot with the dialogue and is really my only major critique. There are hardly any tails to the speech bubbles and with the lack of panels it can be difficult to asses who is talking or narrating. Is Freya talking? Is she narrating? Is it Skoll? Is it the old shaman from four pages ago and he’s been narrating all this time? I don’t know and I still don’t and I’ve read this page five times.
The colors chosen show the variety of the massive forest landscape that the story is set in. The colors completely control the mood of this book. One of my favorite parts is when the two characters are sitting around the campfire explaining their two tribes to each other. As Skoll talks about “the pack” the smoke from the fire turns into these sharply drawn black and grey wolves and when Freya begins to talk the smoke lightens up as a collage of forest creatures spring forth from the now grey and white smoke.
The story also has an underlying environmentalist tone. The book showcases a number of beautifully drawn landscapes. The story is about demons destroying the land and killing the animals. Would it be a stretch to say that maybe humans are the demons? It could be trying to send a message that we need to pay more attention to what we do to the beautiful environments around us because there are more lives than just humans that we need to worry about.
Sorry about that last part, I may have gotten a little preachy but that’s what I like about this book. Anything that can pull something deeper out of its readers is something worth reading. The characters are unique, even though their design reminds me of Scott Pilgrim (maybe it’s because the artists are both based in Toronto), their personality and story is far from it. The unique use of no panels really made this comic stick out to me, bearing in mind that at certain points it was hard to follow. I would like to see more tails to the speech bubbles so I know who is talking. With all that being said, I’m excited to see what Rossi Gifford has in store for issue 2.
The North remembers.
In the universe of Game of Thrones, scenes’ before the opening theme are constant for the first episode of every season. For example, two great scenes that come to mind are the three Night’s Watchmen hunted down by White Walkers in season one or Tywin Lannister melting down house Stark’s sword Ice for Jamie and Geoffrey, season four. On the other hand, the opening scene of season is just plain horrific but awesome at the same time. Nothing is more satisfying then watching all the men of House Frey choke on their own blood after being reminded of the Red Wedding. It was an absolute grand-slam and took off perfectly from where we last saw Aryain season 6.
The North remembers.
Right after the credits we get a quick reminder of the army of the dead, and with more bad news; Giant white walkers. But thankfully we are intercepted by Bran warding into one of them which seems like a very useful ability (what’s next dragon’s or an ice dragon?). He is now with
the Watchers on the Wall and back in the mix, hopefully heading for Winterfell where he can inform Jon he is a Targaryan (This will be hype! I wonder if he can be burnt by fire!). Bran’s story has taken a back seat to other prevalent Starks but it’s nice to see him in the mix, demonstrating his power.
Next, we have psycho Cersei and her sane, lover brother Jaime. I still can’t forgive him for pushing Bran from the tower but I am starting to come around. The disapproving way he has been looking at Cersei dating back to last season says it all. From confronting her about
Tommen’s suicide, to questioning her about the enemies created (Targaryans, Tyrells, Starks, Dornish, and Half the Iron Borne) and the lifeless dynasty they will continue. He keeps his position with Cersei discussing what allies they have left but Jaime is clearly becoming distant and realizing the extent of his lover/sister’s delusion. I forecast a remake of the tale of “The King Slayer” retitled “The Queen Slayer”. In the mean time, the diabolical Yuron Greyjoy, the new king of the Iron Islands rekindles the bond between the Lannisters to move him into a prime position to become King of The Seven (three at this point) Kingdoms. He is presented as a lot more cunning and rounded character kissing up to the Queen and promising her a gift, whether that be Tyrion, and/or a thousand ship armada. What will be interested is how Jaime responds to a marriage between them, because Cersei and Yuron have a demonistic chemistry. She even abides by him making hand jokes and death threats (killing his brother, telling her to do the same). This was a fantastic scene all the while, and it really shows if Cersei get’s close to Yuron and isolates Jamie she will create yet another enemy.
We then get to a short snippet of Samwell Tally’s horrific, grotesque life as a server at the Citadel preparing to become the maester of Castle Black. There is a massive scene which shows him preparing food, cleaning and handling old people plumbing. What’s intriguing is the un-thrones like comedic cut between him doing his daily work; It’s funny and it’s not a bad idea to lighten the tone up because Tyrion used to be the comedy for us in the earlier seasons. Samwell helps the archmaester with the dissection of a corpse where he confirms his thoughts of the White Walkers. What was kind of cheap for me was his simple way of finding dragon glass through a book in the restricted section. It seemed too easy for Game of Thrones, like something you would see Hermione Granger find in the “restricted section”. Hopefully there is more too this but it was kind of stale and forced
Oh wait, Ed Sheeran? I didn’t see it coming, and I thought it was weird but acceptable. It was obviously him having an in with the producers and wanting a cameo role, but he has pure, angelic voice and creates a sympathetic feeling for the Lannister troops that brings out the non-assassin in Arya. She tells them she’s on her way to kings landing to “kill the queen” and it’s not taking seriously which shows how dangerous she has become. But what I see from this is season two when Mellisandre said there is a darkness in her. This darkness has come to fruition and it will be interesting to see how this is received by the remaining Starks. Besides the randomness of Ed Sheeran, I thought this really grounded Arya.
Sandor Clegane and the brotherhood without banners are now at a place he would rather not be; an old victim’s house where Clegane took their silver and resources. They find the father and daughter dead, holding each other. This almost creates an epiphany for the character, asking why the child dies, and fellow brother Beric Dondarion should be brought back. Then the flames get him, showing him the army of the dead and the reality of the larger issue at hand. I think we will see a more compliant hound the rest of this season. I’ve loved this character from the beginning and his arch is getting much broader for the better. I predict a positive change in attitude for the hound.
Finally, the Queen of Dragons, Breaker of Chains, Denarys Stormborn is finally home. From season one this is the only thing she has wanted. But now, she has an army of unsullied, the Dothraki and there gigantic Dragons. The final scene of her tearing down the Baratheon banner and taking her spot among her ancestors war table was breathtaking. It was a long, drawn out scene but the character deserves this and it has been a long time waiting. Fire and blood seem to be the strongest motto of any house right now, and it will for sure be enforced upon the Lannisters. My prediction although is that she won’t penetrate King’s Landing because of Cersei’s ruthlessness and George R.R Martin curveball tendency. Whit I think everyone is looking forward to is the meeting with Jon Snow that will eventually happen. It will be interesting if she commands him to bend the knee (he better not, he’s the rightful heir of the Taragaryan house and not a usurper like Daenarys)! This episode was a great starting block for the season while still providing notable and exciting action.
Rest in peace, watermelon.
The latest episodes in ‘Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid’ were very interesting to watch.
One was definitely a fanservice episode, and heck, even the producers know that! Episode 7’s title contains the phrase ‘The Fanservice Episode, Obviously’, so that cracked me up.
Episode 7 focuses on the elements of anime that will appeal to any nerd out there. By that, of course I mean bathing suits and comic conventions! Cue the beach episode!
Tohru and company decide to go swimming for the day. Kanna’s adorable as always, while Lucoa doesn’t realize just how sexual she is toward a small boy.
Like, really? You think wearing a very sexy swimsuit in front of a lot of kids on a beach is okay? And why do you insist on torturing Shouta with your breasts? It’s obvious that he’s tempted, but stop trying to seduce small children.
Of course, they’re dragons, so hilarious antics ensue. Tohru and Kanna get carried away in a swimming race, making water splash up everywhere. Also, a crab and watermelon are murdered. RIP.
However, one aspect that I thought was a nice touch was the backstory we got for Tohru. It wasn’t much, but Tohru and Kobayashi have a deep and meaningful conversation about their family’s lives, as well as how humans and dragons are different from one another. Fanservice episodes usually focus on that alone, but fortunately that’s not the case here.
The second half of Episode 7 focuses on Comiket. Tohru and Kobayashi help Takiya run a booth, and we learn that Fafnir is also participating by attempting to sell powerful curses. Wow, didn’t see thaaaaat coming at all.
Tohru notices otherworldly creatures in their true forms at Comiket, as they reveal that this is a great way to show their true forms. With Kobayashi’s permission, Tohru exposes her wings and tail, appearing to others as if she’s cosplaying as, well, a dragon maid.
Episode 7 was very nice because there were many heartfelt and adorable moments.
Meanwhile, Episode 8 FINALLY introduced the dragon that I keep on mentioning in my reviews. Her name’s Elma, a dragon who is a rival of Tohru’s. Elma accuses Tohru of disrupting the human’s ways and tries to force her to return to the dragon world. This doesn’t succeed, however, as Tohru sends her to an open field and leaves her there.
Unable to get back home, Elma stays in the human world and begins working at Kobayashi’s company. Kobayashi teaches Elma how to use computers and technology so that she can keep her job. Of course, this prompts Tohru to become jealous, smelling the scent of another dragon off Kobayashi like a dog does with a human. I won’t reveal how the episode ends, but it ends in a positive manner for Tohru.
Overall, I really loved these two episodes because they made me feel warm and fuzzy. They appealed to the emotional senses through a heartfelt conversation between Kobayashi and Tohru. Elma is also an innocent sweetheart who only wants to bring harmony to the human and dragon worlds. And I can’t wait to see more of her in the upcoming episodes.
I feel like in these two episodes alone, we learned so much about Tohru and her feelings for Kobayashi. She really wants to understand the human world and will do anything to stay with Kobayashi.
I’ll up my rating to a 4.7. These episodes were both fun, and we finally got the new dragon! Bless.
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