Ruination #1

Ruination #1

Curious Perspective Comics 2021

Written by Ryan Bis

Illustrated by Giulia Lalli

Coloured by Kaytee Brown

Lettered by Matías Zanetti

Keila, Jalen, and Dante were born into a world destroyed by centuries of war and haunted by the dead. Among the first born during peacetime, they are the generation that will define how the world is rebuilt from the scraps left by their forefathers. Though their elders have trained them to be enemy combatants, they join together to stop a madman from reigniting the war between Saldyria and the rebels known as the Fallen. Can they prevent the ruination of their world?

Alright, colour me intrigued. I like that this doesn’t start off at the beginning and instead the narration brings us up to date on what has happened in this world and then drops us off at the beginning of something new, or old depending on your point of view. Now as far as I can tell this is a world of humans and while magic and the supernatural run rampant but then it sounds like society before the industrial age. I like the dynamic that we see and it has elements of a fantasy world set in pre-Roman England. The overall effect is fantastic and it really engages the reader and ignites the imagination.

I am enjoying 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 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. What this does beautifully is it brings their personalities to the forefront and brings us a better understanding of who they are. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages introducing us to the characters, the story and the world they live in we get caught up in these events in some great ways.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story emerge, grow and strengthen. I love how we see the layers open up avenues to be explored and while some will impact the4 main arc and others won’t 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 exceptionally well achieved.

The interiors here are really rather nice. The linework is strong and with the varying weights and we see creating the detail within the work we see is extremely well rendered. I like how we see the characters, their faces and facial expressions, the animal life- that wolf for instance is impeccably rendered- and the town or woods, so essentially the backgrounds. These backgrounds 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 remarkable eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work are stupendous to see. The choice of colours, how we see the different applications and the overall effect the colour brings to create the mood, tone and feel of the work.

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I am serious about this being an intriguing story because we’re introduced to a rather large cast of characters whose roles are being defined by each time they appear. We are left with questions about them, their motives and so on and so forth and it really creates a great air of mystery surrounding the book. With some strong solid writing and just the beginning of the characterisation wrapped up in the really nice all-ages interior artwork, it creates something different and special that makes you want to come back and see what is going to transpire next.