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
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