REVIEW: DUNE HOUSE HARKONNEN #6 (OF 12)

I think I’ve heard about Dune ever since I was a young child. Whether it was hearing about the books or the movies, never did I think that there were also comics about it. Still to this day, however, I am not sure of what Dune really is. With that in mind, I don’t know what to make of the latest issue of the series. It was beautifully illustrated and the colors were also outstanding, but yet the writing felt a little too all over the place for my liking. This issue follows four different story arcs, that I have no doubt will eventually connect into a beautiful harmony of storytelling but at this present moment, it’s too distant for me to grasp what’s going on. The first arc is about two friends who want to marry the same woman from their village. The second arch is about a mother and daughter that raised a horrible son who is ruthless and kills for joy. The third arc follows a woman inside a royal palace where she is to be made the second concubine of a nobleman, and the fourth and last arc follows a slave that witnesses the murder of one of their friends and is to be punished by the slave owners.

The comic jumps around between the different arcs and moves the story along beat by beat. A little moves in arc one and then we jump to arc three, then that one moves a little bit further and we jump back to the second arc. This method of storytelling might work for 2 plots but when it comes to 4 plots it just becomes jumbled, and I have to think hard to remember what was happening 10 pages before and connect the dots with what is happening now. It’s hard to follow but it’s not boring. Well maybe the third arc with the concubine is a bit boring, but the other three arcs are very interesting and definitely worth following. I think my favorite out of the whole bunch is the fourth arch with the slave. There is a really sad and intense scene that sent shivers down my spine in it and made me quickly understand that this is an adult story and not something meant for children, which I can appreciate because, throughout all my time hearing about Dune, I never heard that it was a childish story so that’s pretty good. The other two arcs that I enjoyed either revolve around family dynamics, cruelty, and shame, or about love, traveling, and the very interesting desert environment that Dune is set in. That was very enjoyable to see. I personally love it when a comic takes its time to set up the world the characters are going to be living in, and gives you little bits of information as to what goes on in this world and the flora and fauna that inhabit it. Sadly with the balancing act of telling 4 stories at the same time, it felt like there wasn’t enough time for me to enjoy these little bits of lore.

Perhaps reading the story as a full trade paperback will be much easier but as it stands this issue bit more than it could chew and it suffers from it. If the rest of the story is told in this manner then I wouldn’t enjoy it very much honestly. At that time split the story into different volumes and dedicate each volume to one independent story instead of jumping from one thing to another. The overall writing was a little janky, with long names and barely any important information, and that is a shame because the art was very good. I really enjoyed the character designs, the background art, and the lettering did its job very well. I do wish we had a couple of extra sfxs here and there and maybe played around with fonts and exaggerating text a bit more, but other than that the art was very good.

I genuinely did enjoy the cover art and the credit page very much. I think Raymon Swanland did a great job with that A Cover Art and it looks super interesting and grabs your attention quickly. The inside credit page was also really well designed and the accents of gold gave a wonderful look to the book, it also makes you think of sand and the desert and that is a great choice for a title like Dune. Overall it was fun to read, and 2.5 out of 4 of the story arcs are well worth the read. I do look forward to reading the next issue and seeing how they are going to connect these seemingly disparate stories into one cohesive narrative, I think that if they are able to tie everything together well then perhaps this method of storytelling will pay off very well and my current ideas on it will be silenced. If you’re a fan of Dune though, I do think you should pick up the book. The art makes up for any confusion the writing may give, and that’s not usually something I would be caught saying. The last 3 or 4 pages of the book are pure gold, and it has some really fun ideas that make me want to dive deeper into Dune lore.

Writing: 3.5 Stars
Art: 5 Stars
Colors: 5 Stars

Overall: 4 Stars

Written by; Brian Herber & Kevin J. Anderson
Illustrated by; Fran Galán

Coloring by; Patricio Delpeche
Lettering by; Ed Dukeshire
Cover art by; Raymon Swanland

Variant Covers by; Reiko Murakami, Toni Infante

Published by; Boom Studios

Reviewed by Antonio “Mabs”