Writer: Tom King
Artist: Bilquis Evely
Colorist: Matheus Lopes
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Daniel Chabon
Designer: Hannah Noble
Thanks to Dark Horse for the review copy!
A new gothic fantasy from superstar writer Tom King with fellow creator and prolific artist Bilquis Evely, who teamed up prior for DC Comics and the Eisner award winning Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. When a young woman is taken in by her grandfather after her father’s untimely death, she starts to learn the history of her family and the secret truths behind the stories she’d been hearing for years.
This book wasn’t on my radar initially but our esteemed editor Dan Berry sent it to me this past week to take a look and I was honestly blown away at the quality of writing and artistic pageantry on display. It’s hard to not give anything Tom King writes a chance and then learning a little later this was born from the same creative team that brought us Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. It was almost a no-brainer to check it out. It’s an original story that King and Evely developed together and it’s honestly not like anything I’ve encountered before. It has elements of things like The Princess Bride or even Pan’s Labyrinth but maybe with a little twist of the wonderfully imaginative movie Big Fish. Like all those it feels almost like a fairy tale at times. One that is a bit darker and seems to be a bit more grounded at least initially.
The main character is a wayward young woman. A bit of a rebel. Stubborn, full of angst, and without any real semblance of responsibility. It’s clear though as this first issue wraps up that her life is going to change dramatically as she learns about her family’s true lineage and I can only assume is meant to carry on their legacy in some fashion. It’s a smartly written, complex narrative that reads almost like a novel. Just what you would expect from Tom King. Evely’s art is gorgeous and detailed like a painting framed on the page. It looks almost as if it was torn from some of the greatest fairy tales of our time. It’s splendidly colored as well. Just a beautiful canvas to behold. Even the lettering style is fitting and stylish, allowing you to follow both the narration and additional dialogue together without slowing down the pacing of the story. It’s truly a remarkable first issue with some very exciting turns that give us just a glimpse of the magic and fantastical journey that awaits us moving forward. I can’t think of a better creative team for this book and I look forward to joining them for its entirety.
My Rating – 9/10 Superb!!
Helen of Wyndhorn #1 is now available.
Also check out the interview our own Editor-In-Chief Leonard Sultana did recently with Tom King.
Are you going to pick up the comic? Have you already, if so what do you think of it? Feel free to leave a comment below or chat with us on Twitter/X at @TheConCollectve, Threads at @theconventioncollective, or Bluesky at @theconcollective.bsky.social
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