Compass #2

Compass #2

Image Comics 2021

Written by Robert Mackenzie & David Walker

Illustrated by Justin Greenwood

Coloured by Daniela Miwa

Lettered by Simon Bowland

Chased across continents, marked for death by Mongol assassins, and betrayed by her sister-in-arms—the odds are stacked against Shahidah…and the adventure's just begun! As Shahi closes in on the fabled Cauldron of Eternal Life, the emaciated and bloodthirsty Margul Khan rallies his forces in her pursuit. More than just an old man's health is at stake…if the Khan gets his clutches on the prize of immortality, he'll crush the Earth in his tyrannical grip!

I’m really digging this book. The fact that Shahidah is middleastern and a female scholar who has a penchant for physical activity and the knowledge to back up her words and actions really broadens her appeal. Plus she’s alive in a time when women were an afterthought basically even though countries had Queens they were nothing more than mere figureheads. From every man she needs and pretty much every man we see in the book they treat women differently but it’s these characters like Shahidah that change the way people think and we see that already in how she is portrayed throughout the story thus far.

I’m loving how this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of evets unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented extremely well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter is magnificently portrayed. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story we really are brought into a foreign time and place.

I am a fan of the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and emerge. The layers are in the se avenues we’ve seen opened and those new opening up and they contain bits and pieces of characterisation, plot twists and revelations which by the way really encompass all sides of the book and character within beautifully. That Hua and her master get as much focus as Shahidah is utterly delightful to me and completely necessary to understand both sides of the coin. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is extremely nice to see.

I am personally really enjoying the interiors here. The linework is amazing and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create detail work is exceptionally well rendered. While I would like to see more backgrounds what we do see enhances the moments beautifully and how they work within the composition of the panels to showcase the depth perception, sense fo scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is magnificently done. 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 exceedingly well rendered. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a strong understanding for how colour works.

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The way that this is being told and how the story transitions so seamlessly from section to section as well as all this amazing depth, dimension and complexity that we see throughout makes this as much a cerebral read as it is a stunning visual read. There is a great balance between story and artwork to depict the action that it helps us along this journey and adds the mystique and allure of the main character. With some intelligent writing and strong witty characterisation and dynamic and thought provoking visuals helps this take you by surprise and makes it something you cannot do without.