Maria Llovet's Porcelain #2

Maria Llovet’s Porcelain #2

Ablaze Publishing 2021

By Maria Llovet

Lettered by Saida Temofonte

The appearance of a mysterious guide may be of some comfort for Beryl, but the more she learns about the Dollhouse, the more frightening and confusing it becomes. With no easy exit in sight, she must keep her wits about her and find the way out before she is turned into a doll herself and stuck there forever!

This is a weird ride and I for one am thankful for that. The weirder the better if you were to ask me. I say this because it means that this is much harder to predict what is going to occur next and not being able to guess the events we’re going to see means that every page holds that potential surprise that could change our world. The idea of a moving house isn’t a new one. I've seen films and heard of legends of a haunted house that moves locations once it lures people inside it. So that Maria is using this obscure legend and calling it the Dollhouse adds some originality to the idea making it uniquely her own and she does it in such a way that really boggles the mind and not entirely in a good way.

I like 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 rendered spectacularly well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a magnificent of bringing their personalities to life. Poor Beryl is so lost and confused by what’s going on and we see this and her innocence just shining off the pages. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story we become more embroiled in the madness of the situation.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen we see just how strong a storyteller Maria is. How we see the layers open up new avenues to be explored is exceptionally well done. Each room seems to be a new avenue and while some will be explored and some won’t be but they all add this great depth, dimension and complexity 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 impeccably rendered.

The interiors here are utterly fabulous. I’m of a mixed mind of the black backgrounds being utilised here since these rooms are so incredible to see. How these rooms enhance and expand the moments is utterly marvellous and how they work within the composition of the panels bringing out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope of the story is magnificent. 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 various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a solid understanding of how colour works.

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The bizarre way that Beryl goes through this story being led around by the seemingly helpful and genuinely nice Axel. Now Axel is more than likely far from what she appears to be but half the fun of her introduction and her actions throughout the issue is going to be something we focus on as the story moves forward. More than meets the eye that’s for sure. With some absolutely delightful writing and stellar characterisation and hella intriguing interiors this why Maria is one the hottest storytellers right now.