Taarna: The Last Taarakian #1

Taarna: The Last Taarakian #1

Heavy Metal Comics 2020

Written by Stephanie Phillips

Illustrated by Patrick Zircher

Coloured by Jessica Kholinne

Lettered by Marshall Dillon

From the death of the last Taarakian and a collapsed universe, Taarna was born. Heavy Metal's flagship character from the animated film returns in a new series of cosmic mystery and battles throughout the multiverse in her war against Kako, the embodiment of chaos. This is the story of a millenia-old battle between godlike beings, with all sentient life caught in their path.

Oh the last time I saw Taarna she was mute and it was actually one of the most spectacular stories I had read. So I was thrilled to see a new one coming to stands next Wednesday. My exposure to her is limited to that one book and for some odd reason reason I thought that perhaps she really was mute. So imagine my surprise when I realised that I actually knew absolutely nothing about her. So for now I get to experience a whole new sice of her that I never knew existed. I’m excited by the thought that she really is the kind of woman that she’s being portrayed as here.

The storytelling here is extremely well done. 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. As we follow the story along we learn so much more than I bargained for anyway and it really is glorious. It also sets up Taarna as a goddess and the last of her kind which is another aspect that I was unaware of. I do like seeing her as this warrior and it’s a role I am familiar with her being in. The character development we see is fabulous and as it continues we see her grow and evolve it is delightful. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists & turns along the way.

The interiors here are exceptionally gorgeous! Patrick’s work is always phenomenal and if there’s anyone who can make even me appreciate the form of a naked woman it’s him. I have to tell you when we see the linework and its varying weights along with the various techniques being utilised to showcase the detail work we see is utterly astonishing. Seriously the way we see the backgrounds and how much detail we see in them to expand the moments and make this so much more believable. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkable eye for storytelling. The colour work is absolutely gorgeous! The colour choices are inspired that’s for sure and then to see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is seriously stellar work. I am really impressed with the creativity and imagination that we see and in how the constant development of new species is seen through these folks minds.

I will say this much her guardian, nanny or whatnot is a scary ass woman and while she’s a celestial being that we see her the way we do is utterly fantastic! Also I am unsure of what the real purpose of this issue and that is something that’ll drive me crazy for some time to come, okay until the next issue comes out. I wholeheartedly admit that the ending of this issue really caught my attention and I cannot wait until we see where this goes.

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Folks if you aren’t paying attention to Heavy Metal and the comics that they are making then you are doing yourself a disservice because from what I can see time and time again they are putting out some really high quality comics that are deserved of your attention.