A long time ago, an immortal witch stalked the earth, enticing and clouding the minds of men, driving them to war. By her powers, she conquered the Kahn’s of the ruling lands, never-ceasing in her use of her charms, until she fell under a different type of spell……love!
The first issue introduces a small cast of divers as they look to find, pirate or save, depending on your point of view, treasures from the depths of the ocean. During which we get to see flashbacks to the war-monger in her prime. Of course, not everything is as it seems yet with the two timelines, we are going to have to see how this plays out.
Tini Howard, writer of Captain America Annual #1 and Assasinistas, is scene setting in this first issue. The pace of the writing works well; both timelines are interesting, I am not sure which I prefer to be honest. The witch has a way about her that gives the impression that she knows more about the world than she is letting on. I find this a little odd, which is a common trait in immortal stories. It’s as if when you become immortal you also get all this super knowledge. This is shown in her arrogance, confidence or sass as she insults and impresses in equal measure. With it being a first issue, there is a lot of exposition to work through, that hopefully will lead to a literary pay off.
The art is supplied by Amilcar Pinna who displays an easy flowing style, that seems a little light considering the attempted vibe of the story. Maybe this has more to do with the locations on show in the book, historical books don’t really entice me. Pinna falls into that Valiant habit of trying to show the character’s whole body, which I have said previously, doesn’t really help with camera angles. Ironically, it is the historical elements of the art that actually work better than the modern-day setting, even if the two tribes that are going to war are confusingly very similar. My preview copy of the book is without credit for inker, colorist and letterer, so apologies for the lack of correct acknowledgements.  That said, the colors work well, again the historical elements working better than he almost too bright modern world.
This is a four issue run, so it will interesting to see how Valiant go about this run. What do you think are the chances that the two immortals will eventually bump into each other, especially given as they appear to be polar opposites? That may be something that happens down the line. Currently, we need to see if this Forgotten Queen is able to hold onto her loyal subjects.
Writing – 3.5 Stars
Art – 3.5 Stars
Colors – 3.5 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Written by; Tini Howard
Art by; Amilcar Pinna
Published by; Valiant Entertainment
Author Profile
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I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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