Giantkillers #0 Review

GiantKillers #0
Writers: Bart Sears, Ron Marz
Art: Bart Sears, Tom Raney
Colors: Nanjan Jamberi
Letterer: Troy Peteri, Dave Lanphear
Publisher: IDW Publishing

A review by Greg Brothers

I have found over the years that high concept mystical series can go one of two ways. They can either be approachable and allow the readers to wade into the action and vast universe. Or they can throw the reader into the deep end with a plethora of characters and allow the reader to either sink or swim. Neither approach is right or wrong and neither works every time. After reading Giantkillers #0, I would say it falls more on the sink or swim end of the spectrum.

Giantkillers #0 is the kick off to Bart Sears latest saga. We meet Arkon who must protect Auoro. She is destined to battle Omin and protect to universe from certain death. After a brief stop in what could be assumed to be present, the read is ushered back to the beginning of Aouro and Arkon’s adventure. But before Arkon can protect Aouro completely she is sent away, leaving him alone and Auoro in the woods. Within those woods she meets Tulat who claims to be the one who will be her teacher and prepare her for the destiny that awaits her.

As I said, Giantkillers #0 is a sink or swim issue. The book comes in at a whopping fifty pages, and there is a ton of information packed into those pages. Although information is packed into the story we only get pieces of the story. It makes for a bit of a disjointed read at times. I found myself going back and reading parts over thinking I had missed something when the dialogue had not been there. There are several references to the dread lords so perhaps some of the parts that seems glossed over would have been better received had I read the Dread Lords series. Several of the characters powers are partially revealed but throughout it feels like something was being held back.

The art is amazingly detailed throughout Giantkillers #0. Every time I looked at a panel I felt there was something else that I was seeing for the first time. The bright colors of the Gods versus the bleak whiteness of the snows pop off the page at you. The variety of panel layouts keeps the flow of the eyes constantly going in the right direction making for any easy read.

Verdict:
Wait and See! There is a lot going on in Giantkillers #0 but none of it feels all that important. We get two stories that are designed to set up the rest of the series but honestly there is little here that makes it seem like you are missing anything that would affect later stories. While the art and the dialogue are constructed well and visually stunning I would wait until the first issue comes out and then revisit this later.