Mythic Vol. 1 Review

Mythic Vol 1
Created by Hester and McCrea
Colors by Micheal Spicer
Letters by Willie Schubert
Review by Hafsa Alkhudairi

Welcome to Mythic, where killing a mythical creature gets you an automatic invitation to the Mythic Lore Services.

There is where the narrative of Mythic starts. Hester and McCrea created a world where magic and mythological creatures are what makes the world what it is. This means that science is wrong and nothing but stories people told themselves to comfort themselves. Hence the rationality of science is just humanity’s way to deny the existence of mythology and chaos. Where there is chaos and denial, there must be a group that protects people and their sanity and that is the Mythic Lore Services. Of course, this causes loads of ridiculous situations to come to life and visual hilarity to exist.

“The ‘Known Laws’ of our universe actually hinge on incomprehensible absurdity. Your evident facts and recorded data are mere veils over the leering face of cosmic insanity” – Hester and McCrea in Mythic.

Beyond that, Mythic concentrates on a crisis within the service that may be bringing the end of the universe. The story had the makings to be unique and crazy, however, it fell on the predictable. Though the events themselves and how they unfolded where not as predictable. The art was reflective of the story as well. It was predictable in its grotesque, but it was balanced out with the lean clean lines of the sceneries and of the humans. This juxtaposition created hilarious situations and visual effects. It is especially true with the cool and collected facial expressions of the humans versus the exaggerated ones from the monsters or mythological creatures.

The style presented was gorgeous the fonts changes were amazing, Yet, I still felt Mythic needed more. More of what, I am unsure. The story was great for those who like action heavy comics and seeing cities destroyed imaginatively. For someone who enjoys the narrative more than the actions and character development. It didn’t have enough of that.

With the first volume of Mythic (and some of the issues), there is two extra stories in the form of Mythic Secret Origins. Here, I felt I finally understood the characters (not all), but there is more to the characters then I first assumed.

Mythic Secret Origins
1) Dr. Devorah Baranski, The Skeptical Spirit:
Story by Phil Hester
Art by Brian Churilla
Letters by Willie Schubert
Colors by Micheal Spicer

This origin story is for one of the characters who is a ghost. She is a scientist that rejected the idea of magic. I found this one hilarious and very relatable. Its art was colourful and bright with a sense of strangeness that seems appropriate for this story.

2) Child of Water and Killer of Enemies: The War Twins
Story by Phil Hester
Art by Paul J. Holden
Letters by Willie Schubert
Colors by Micheal Spicer

This origin story starts about the purpose of the Playa-Man. However, the story soon delves into one of brotherly love and affection. It was born out of wanting to save their dog that was killed. This produces a clearer understanding of why the Killer of Enemies appears whenever Asha loses a tooth. This brought on a clearer image of Asha, Killer of Enemies, and how they relate.

Verdict:
Buy it IF you like mythology and action heavy comics. I may have enjoyed Mythic, but not enough to recommend it without caution. There is much to say about how the art and the story enhances each other. There is much to recommend both. However, I would recommend Mythic for the extras. Here, the ingenuity of the narrative appears and a clearer understanding of the characters and their motivations. My experience was enhanced dramatically after reading the Mythic Secret Origins.

Also, you get more than double the content in the trade as an average DC or Marvel copy for a more than reasonable price!