Mora #1

[Craig Reade]

Mora #1 I- All Beasts Will Show Their Teeth

Image Comics - $2.95 Writer: Paul Harmon Art: Paul Harmon

Review:
Written by Craig Reade

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This new one from Image was one that I really had only heard of one time prior to picking it up at the recent convention in LA, and I have to be totally honest – I really had almost no interest in it. Being described as the story of the childhood of the world’s most powerful witch, I was turned off right away. What can I say – most books about magical characters don’t appeal to me all that much. The fact that it has been out for around a month and a half now with almost no real buzz made me even less curious about it.

Of course, then I read it, and was pleasantly surprised. The story starts with the actual death of Mora, and an explanation (a vague one) about who she was and why she was important. A pair of narrators, a rabbit and a tortoise (both heavily scarred), take us back in time, explaining the magical nature of beasts, the purpose of witches, and the birth of Mora, a girl named Anandra, and a lion cub, all three who will potentially play a big role in this title as its story unfolds.

The story presentation is really quite unique, and very well done. The pair have very distinct personalities that play off of each other very well. The rabbit is extremely verbose and opinionated, while the tortoise is usually content to agree with what the rabbit has to say, only occasionally interjecting with a suggested topic of conversation. Both are well dressed, with the rabbit adorned in a pin-stripe suit, and the tortoise wearing a scarf, puffing on a pipe, with a manner of speaking that suggests gentlemen of leisure from around a century ago.

This use of narration really helps with the exposition a great deal. Instead of waiting for events to take place to prove to you the motivations of the lead characters, these narrators explain to you right there their thoughts on what just happened – in a clear and smooth manner, it is explained to you who you are supposed to like and pity, who you are supposed to fear and revile, without messy and obvious plot devices that might slow the story down. It is a pretty unique way of telling a story in a comic, and I wouldn’t mind seeing more of it.

The art is a tough thing to judge. It is done in that heavily black and white style coloring that is supposed to accent the use of shadows, but I think ends up in a muddy looking page. The actual drawings beneath look like they are solid – I just feel that this style of coloring really serves to cover up everything that is good about the image itself. Inking and coloring are supposed to enhance the art, not hide it, and I think that is the only real failing of this issue. Still, it is not impossible to see what is going on, and the panel layout itself is solid, so it isn’t a fatal flaw in the book in my eyes. Maybe the art itself would have come out better if it had been painted - the markers just didn't work for me, though.

I really think this book deserves a look. The second issue isn’t slated to be released until next month, so I do think there is still more than enough time to give this issue a shot. It deserved a lot more attention than it ended up getting when it first came out, I think. If you want to check out Paul Harmon's website, and see some more of his work, head on over to DogMeatSausage.com. Some interesting stuff can be seen there.

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Rating(out of 5):