'The Autumnlands Volume One: Tooth and Claw' – Kurt Busiek & Benjamin Dewey (Image)

As the nights start to draw in a little, and I'm fighting more and more not to panic as my workload gets ever bigger, I'm revisiting old favourites on my 'comic book shelves' in an attempt to try and hold off the 'autumn blues' just a little longer. It's weird... I can get through winter with no problems at all (when everything's grey and pretty much dead...) but there's something about the slow transition from summer to autumn that rocks me mentally, hence the comic books. Something bright and 'in my face' to take my mind off it ;o)

Now, I love a superhero comic as much as the next reader but the thing I'm always looking out for are more fantasy comics, it just seems like the perfect medium for 'worldbuilding geeks' like me (it's there right in front of you on the page) and people who love a dynamic tale full of adventure, that's also me by the way. With all that in mind, it really didn't take a lot for me to pick up 'Autumnlands Volume One' when I first saw it a few years ago. Just the cover on it's own gives me everything that I need from a fantasy comic and that's before even opening the book itself. And the book itself is just superb. I've been re-reading 'Autumnlands Volume One' over the last couple of days, let me tell you about it.

They needed a saviour. They got a soldier.

When a secret conclave of wizards brings a legendary hero back from the forgotten past to save their dying world, they get a hero unlike anything they expected, and trigger a crisis none of them may survive.

'Tooth and Claw' is one of those books where I read it and the book just blows me away with how good it is. Seriously, I'm left speechless (even on what must be my third or fourth re-read) and that's not necessarily a good thing when I'm supposed to be writing a post about it. Lets just start off by saying that Busiek and Dewey's talents combine near perfectly to bring us this tale...

Busiek's worldbuilding is just right, setting up a solid foundation for the story to grow from but leaving enough questions unanswered that you want to keep reading to get the full picture. And they are pretty big questions as well. Why is the magic dying out? Why do the wizards believe that summoning an ancient hero will solve everything? Will the oppressed bison people ever be free and where are all the humans anyway? A land of sentient animals isn't anything new but the concept here feels like it is loaded with hidden meaning. Something happened then, but what?

'Tooth and Claw' already feels like an opener for a series that has a lot to say, and get done, but there is also a 'stand alone' element to the more immediate machinations of the cast that means you won't feel too disappointed when the story ends (on a cliffhanger but you can rest easy , you know how that's going to turn out). It's a typical 'grasping for power' scenario but with an added urgency (people never see the bigger picture when they're after immediate gain) and some deft characterisation, from Busiek, that gives the struggle some meaning but doesn't hold the plot up. A good balance then.

Our hero is a little vaguely formed at the moment and that's ok as we're only just getting to know him. I'd say though that right now, it's actually more interesting (and inspiring) to follow the quiet heroism of Dusty who has his world turned upside down in an instant but is still determined to do the right thing. I can get behind that.

All of that and I haven't mentioned Dewey's stunning artwork. Lets put it this way, you know that you normally get awesome cover art and then you open the book and the art inside is still good but not as good (because the artist is working to a deadline, something has to give)? That's not the case here, the artwork inside is better. I'm talking floating cities with so much detail that you can almost feel the wind blowing down the streets and landscapes that you can almost touch. And characters with emotion and feeling just pouring out their expressions. It's amazing stuff and the kind of art that you almost feel a little privileged to have seen.

Having said all of this, it's a real shame then that the series seems to have stalled at volume two (I don't really follow comic news but I understand that illness, Busiek's, threw everything out, I hope Busiek has recovered now). I wouldn't let that stop you reading volume one though. Not only is it relatively self contained but it's just lovely and an amazing read all at the same time. If yo ulike fantasy, you pretty much owe it to yourself to give 'Tooth and Claw' a read.