Critical Role: The Tales of Exandria--The Bright Queen #1

Critical Role: The Tales of Exandria--The Bright Queen #1

Dark Horse Comics 2021

Written by Darcy Van Poelgeest

Illustrated by CoupleofKooks

Coloured by Cris Peter

Lettered by Ariana Maher

Leylas Kryn, the Bright Queen of the Kryn Dynasty, has spent multiple lives in pursuit of assembling the Luxon. With her eternal lover Quana at her side, she will stop at nothing to use its otherworldly power to bring a Golden Age to the peoples under her rule. So, when what might be another piece of the Luxon appears nearby, Leylas sends Quana to collect it . . . with consequences that may threaten the entire Dynasty!

I was on the fence for this one but looking at the interiors here it made me want to check this out. I’m glad I did too. While I don’t know much about Critical Role, okay I know nothing about it, what I see here is very much a fantasy role playing game come to life in comics form and I love that. The description of how Exandria came into being and how the different races came to live here, not to mention the spotlight on faith, it all makes me want to see, know and learn more about it. So if you are like me then this is a spectacular introduction to the franchise and possibly could lead you to wanting to explore other avenues.

I am very much enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development5 that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character development as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter really does a great job in establishing the personalities of the characters we meet. The pacing is superb and as it introduces us to the characters, this world and the story it leaves us wanting to see and experience more.

I like how we see this being structured as well as how we see the layers within the story emerge, grow and evolve. The layers open up these great avenues to be explored and this adds some wonderful depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.

The interiors are beautifully rendered. The linework is soft yet strong thanks to how clean, crisp and sharp they are. How we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality in the attention to detail is extraordinarily rendered. The old Elf who talks to the young one about Consecution is bloody brilliantly rendered and epitomises everything about the interiors I want to convey. Backgrounds are utilised nicely, though we could always see more, as they enhance and expand the moments nicely. They also work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a very strong and talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a stellar eye for how colour works and how to maximise its effects.

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This pulls the reader into this world in several ways that leaves an indelible impression upon the reader. It instills within you the desire to know more, more about each arc within the story that we see as well as the characters within them. It’s beautifully rendered in words and visuals as the writing is utterly spectacular and the interiors are brought to life brilliantly.