Runes #2

Runes #2

Source Point Press 2021

Created & Written by Juan Lacitignola

Created & Illustrated by Francesco Iaquinta

Coloured & Lettered by Juan Lacitignola & Alessia Teruggi

Translated by Alessia Teruggi

During a patrol in the clearing around Fearn, Angus Darroch argues animatedly with Iona about the problematic situation. But it won't be a day like any other for the Darroch's leader and his daughter. Meanwhile, beyond the Great Sea, Fjorn, the Jarl of Jondal, plots against the villages of the coast and sets up a suspicious trial without the accused.

Part of me wonders why we don’t see more books that focus on the Northmen and women? After all with the success of Vikings and with Thor and the gods of Asgard all over popular culture right now one would assume, yes we know what they say about those who assume, that the demand of such stories would be high. Personally I rather enjoy seeing stories like this one and how fate, or the gods according to Arnar, has put him on the clan's doorstep as we see a complete misunderstanding of the situation by Darroch’s daughter and his people. I wouldn’t say this is a perfect storm scenario but depending on one’s viewpoint it could be a very fortuitous turn of events.

I am very much enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development 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 dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a magnificent job in how it brings these characters to life. There is also one of the best lines I’ve read in quite some time as said to Tuva, “a son has killed his own father” and the implications are huge. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story we’re captivated by the intrigue of it all.

The way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story emerge, grow and strengthen continue to impress me. How we see so much great depth, dimension and complexity added to the story through the layers is extremely well rendered. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is very well achieved.

There is a very specific style to how we see the interiors and while it isn’t what I would normally gravitate towards, they feel very much amateur and not as focused or static without a sense of movement if you will, they do a very nice job in bringing this life. We could do with more use of backgrounds as well to help really showcase the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. Still the varying weights and techniques we see do add some nice dimension to the work. How we see the utilisation of the page layouts and the angles and perspective in the panels is well done. I do like how we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work. Along with the linework and how they all conspire to bring the mood, tone and feel to us is well achieved.

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It really is an intriguing story. A man without a home to call his own, exiled from one and feared in another can Arnar work the Darroch in a way that benefits everyone? Well this still remains to be seen and we’re only at issue two so there’s still plenty of story to come. I am definitely interested, engaged and invested in this book at this point and this is thanks to the superb writing & characterisation that's brought to life by the interior artwork.