By The Horns #4

By The Horns #4

Scout Comics 2021

Written by Markisan Naso

Illustrated & Lettered by Jason Muhr

Coloured by Andrei Tabacaru

Elodie and her team lock horns with the volcanic sorcerer, Pazuzunox! Meanwhile, Haru and the villagers of Wayfarer are attacked by the wizard of the western wind, who means to take all their magic by force.

With each issue of this that comes out we see an increase in work and how it comes across, in other words each issue is better than the one before. I love the gradual strength that comes with each new outing and how it manages to incorporate the reader becoming just that much more invested in the story. We also see such subtle changes happening within the characters themselves and this is another aspect of how the writing and interiors become that much stronger than the time before. This is already a magical journey we’re being taken on by these guys and to see it expanding and encompassing more is just that much more exciting to me. With the news that this will become an ongoing monthly series, which I wholeheartedly support by the way, there is no longer the need to rush through sections or condense how we see things so I’m looking forward to seeing more extended encounters against these dark wizards.

I am loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter continues to flesh these characters out beautifully. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story I’m loving how it manages to keep drawing us further and further in.

I am very much enjoying how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. It is within these layers where the bulk of the characterisation and the plot twists are taking place and it’s also here where we see such delightful depth, dimension and complexity added to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved exceedingly well.

I am a huge fan of the interiors here. The creativity and imagination that we see throughout the book is utterly sensational, I mean to see Pazuzunox transform, the winged hairless cats, and the myriad of weaponry that the horns are able to create is mind blowing to witness. The linework is amazing and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of detailed work is astonishingly well rendered. The utilisation of backgrounds and how they enhance and expand the moments as well as how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is brilliantly rendered. How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a sensational eye for how colour works and how to maximise its effects.

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Elodie is a great character and to see her grow and evolve, primarily against her will, is absolutely delightful. This ragtag group of adventurers is really quite extraordinary and the more time they spend together the more they are rubbing off on one another. Which, by the by, is a great thing to see. With some extraordinary writing and characterisation and some dynamic and mind blowing interiors is why this has graduated to a full blown monthly title.