Dune House Atreides #9

Dune: House Atreides #9

BOOM! Studios 2020

Written by Kevin J. Anderson & Brian Herbert

Illustrated by Dev Pramanik & Mariano Talbo

Coloured by Alex Guimarães

Lettered by Ed Dukeshire

Was foul play involved in Leto's father's untimely death? Follow the new Duke Atreides as he stops at nothing to find out.

Power, lies, and corruption continue as Baron Harkonnen hatches a plan to frame Leto for an attack on the Tleilaxu even as Shaddam prepares to usurp the throne from his father once and for all.

Had this been my introduction to the franchise I might have actually enjoyed the first novel and possibly the dry film much more than I had. As it stands thanks to this I think I am actually ready to tackle the novel again and for me to say this says a lot about how good this franchise truly is. One of the things that I really like about this series is how frequently this changes from scene to scene so we don’t hang around too long at any one place and instead manage to get the fuller picture as we watch it all unfold. It really is among the most intelligent and smartest written series that we’ve seen in comics in a very, very long time.

I love 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 exquisitely. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter. This spotlights their personalities and how they keep changing, growing and evolving. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story and the twists & turns along the way we get so wrapped up in the drama of it all and it is absolutely delicious.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen we see some absolutely magnificent storytelling. What I particularly love about this book and how we see the layers within the story add so much depth, dimension and complexity it’s enough to make the writers of Dynasty and Dallas jealous of the intricacies involved. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.

The interiors here are really very lovely. The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work that we see throughout the issue is magnificently rendered. The way that backgrounds are being utilised to enhance and expand the moments and really bring us what these worlds, cities and places look like is unparalleled. How they also 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 is utterly fabulous. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masters eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a magnificent eye for how colour works and how to maximise its effects through how it is applied.

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This series is absolutely phenomenal! This being told in the format that it is so that we don’t overstay our welcome at any one locale is smartly done. How the story manages to flow through the pages and it engages the reader and invests you in what we’re seeing and reading is pretty spectacular to witness. The writing is intelligent and the characterisation is sharp and witty that are surrounded by these sublime interiors really make this franchise come to life beautifully.