space
head
head head head
Home Contact RSS Feed
COMICS   •   MOVIES   •   MUSIC   •   TELEVISION   •   GAMES   •   BOOKS
Comic Review: Umbral #1
space
Maximus Prime   |  

Image Comics: Umbral #1 cover by Christopher MittenUmbral #1
Written by Antony Johnston
Illustrated by Christopher Mitten
Colored by John Rauch
Cover by Christopher Mitten
Image Comics
Release Date: November 13, 2013
Cover Price: $2.99

Otherworldy forces are at work in the palace. Written by Antony Johnston with illustrations from Christopher Mitten and colors from John Rauch, comes Umbral #1 from Image Comics. Will the bards sing wondrous songs of this tale? Find out below.

Rascal is a thief. She’s also friends with Prince Arthir. While sneaking around the castle with the prince, the two witness the slaughter of the king and queen by a group of demon-like creatures. As the creatures are chanting a peculiar incantation, Rascal realizes something that will put her and the prince in a whole lot of danger: the magical mist she carries in a bottle around her neck is needed for their spell and they can sense that it is near.

Umbral #1 begins with excellent narration recounting events unseen; while Mitten’s illustrations — combined with Rauch’s unique color scheme — littered the opening pages with a vast, surrealistic kingdom of twisted buildings and alleyways filled with dark blues, purples, and yellows. I was hooked at the start but then everything changed.

I really wanted to enjoy this comic but I couldn’t. It was emotionless. Sure, visually Umbral #1 is exciting and unique, but that just isn’t enough. The characters are unfeeling, robotic, and stale. Bad things happen that personally effect them in this issue — very bad things — and both Rascal and Arthir barely react. Eyes glazed over for a moment, the two move on from their situations with a joke or two. I’m sure this was unintentional on Johnston’s part, as there is only so much that can be added to a single comic, but it doesn’t fit the tone of the fantasy story. I want to care for the characters I’m reading about but instead, I was left feeling discouraged and unmoved.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t all. The characters are planning something big, but what that is never actually is revealed. I felt confused throughout most of the issue and that bewilderment, coupled with my lack of care for Rascal and Arthir, really turned me off.

It’s certainly a shame that Umbral #1 didn’t pan out as I had hoped. The adventure seemed great, but there was no magic in its execution.

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

space
space
Previous Article
space
Next Article
«
»
space
space
space
Amazon.com
space
You may have noticed that we're now AD FREE! Please support Geeks of Doom by using the Amazon Affiliate link above. All of our proceeds from the program go toward maintaining this site.
space
Geeks of Doom on Twitter Geeks of Doom on Facebook Geeks of Doom on Instagram Follow Geeks of Doom on Tumblr Geeks of Doom on YouTube Geeks of Doom Email Digest Geeks of Doom RSS Feed
space
space
space
space
The Drill Down Podcast TARDISblend Podcast Westworld Podcast
2023  ·   2022  ·   2021  ·   2020  ·   2019  ·   2018  ·   2017  ·   2016  ·   2015  ·   2014  ·  
2013  ·   2012  ·   2011  ·   2010  ·   2009  ·   2008  ·   2007  ·   2006  ·   2005
space
Geeks of Doom is proudly powered by WordPress.

Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press

Geeks of Doom is designed and maintained by our geeky webmaster
All original content copyright ©2005-2023 Geeks of Doom
All external content copyright of its respective owner, except where noted
space
Creative Commons License
This website is licensed under
a Creative Commons License.
space
About | Privacy Policy | Contact
space