The Mapmaker #1

The Mapmaker #1

Scoot! Imprint of Scout Comics 2021

Written by Ben Slabak

Illustrated by Francesca Carita

Imagine a parallel Earth during The Age of Discovery. Imagine The Pirates of the Caribbean where the prize is a fantastical power wielded by a mysterious individual known simply as ‘The Mapmaker.’ Any map he creates comes to life, a power highly desired by King Gus, who will stop at nothing to obtain it. The crew of the privateer ship The Rogue Wave, captained by the courageous Lei Li, are the only ones standing in their way with a mission to deliver The Mapmaker’s successor before his power wanes and is lost forever. A fun tale for all ages! Enjoy the first issue of this NON-STOP! followed by the entire story collected soon after in one volume.

I’ve been talking about how good the current all-ages series have been and now that Scout has their own imprint for just that line we can already add them as best new all-ages imprint. Premature, maybe but look at the evidence it’s Scout Comics who’ve yet to prove themselves as anything other than a publishing house that’s super reliable when it comes to putting out some stellar offerings. Plus for those of a certain age will find this much like some of their more beloved films kind of like Muppets Treasure Island and The Goonies with a dash of Pirates of the Caribbean just for good measure.

I love the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see through the way the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is exquisitely rendered. I mean it too because it’s not easy to take readers of so many different levels and make sure that everyone can follow along at the same rate and pace. The character development is fantastic! I like how the surface shows us one aspect which is all some need to see but for those of us who a tad older can marvel at how well the layering in the characterisation really is. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, the characters and this world to us we’re treated to a few interesting surprises.

I am enjoying the way that this is being structured and how the layers within the story are emerging for us. The twists and turns that are already in motion actually give me pause as I try to work out in my own mind who gains what from this. So yeah I’m already engaged in this story where how we see everything working together creates a fabulous ebb & flow to the story.

One of the things about all-ages titles that has grown on me are the interiors. Now the linework rarely varies in weight but that’s okay because it has this appeal to me of animated shows on Nickelodeon, nothing recent but back when Rugrats was a hit. Also seeing that pigeon who looks like a worm with a beak, yeah that brought back memories as well. I adore that we see backgrounds being utilised as we do. The way they flesh out the scenes and bring us this depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the book is phenomenal. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a really good, strong and solid eye for storytelling. The colour work is stupendous as well. To see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work dome mainly through colour blocking is amazing.

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This is charming, delightful and filled with wonder and mystery and it’s everything anyone and everyone could possibly want. The subject matter is pretty universal and the inclusion that we see through all the varied characters in various positions well it helps to show that it doesn’t who you but it matters what you can do. I like that message a whole lot.