Summoners War: Legacy #5

Summoners War: Legacy #5

Image Comics 2021

Written by Justin Jordan

Illustrated by Luca Claretti

Coloured by Giovanna Niro

Lettered by Deron Bennett

Imprisoned on a train headed for enemy territory, Tomas and Rai are at the mercy of Voss Ayers…a mercenary summoner who steals for fun and kills for profit. Please don’t call him a villain, though.

There is something about this series that is so utterly charming and endearing that you have this mysterious pull on the reader. It has that je ne sais quoi to it that you feel deep within you but can’t put it into words, others might call this the “IT” factor. All I know is that this has all of that and more. How Justin is writing this is a huge part of its appeal too because what we see and how it affects the kids is not only relatable to but they’ve got the catalyst in Voss that is going to make them more determined to be better than they currently are. So it’s got so many aspects to the story that we see woven throughout that tie together but are currently their own separate entities that are on the verge of joining together.

I am a huge fan of 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 is magnificently portrayed. I’m really impressed with the level of characterisation that we see throughout this book and not just with the kids but with Voss as well and we really do get to see just what appears to make them who they are. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story we find ourselves completely absorbed in what we see.

How we see this being structured and how we see the layers within the story continuing to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen is masterfully rendered. What I love about these layers is that they open up different avenues to be explored or there as is. How they add this absolutely wonderful depth, dimension and complexity to the story is fantastic to see. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow and how it moves the story forward are immaculately achieved.

The interiors here have their own distinct charm to them. The linework is clean, crisp and sharp and with the varying weights we see such great attention to detail happening. The faces and facial expressions do wonders in furthering the characterisation. That we see backgrounds being utilised is nice though we could always use more especially to show how cramped the quarters they are being held in are. Still how we see the composition within the panels brings out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope of the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a great understanding for how colour works.

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There are a couple of ways that this could have gone after their mentor was killed and Rai came back to save Tomas. I was hoping that this was the way things would go but I really am surprised to see them in this situation however. I was expecting something different so that Justin manages to still surprise me makes me incredibly happy because it means that nothing may be what you expect and we’ll keep coming back to see where this goes next. There is some great writing and delightful characterisation wrapped up in these charming interiors that instill the desire to see and know more.