Reyn #2 Review

Story by: Kel Symons
Art by: Nate Stockman
Colours by: Paul Little
Published by: Image Comics

 

Every once in a while you stumble across a hidden gem, one where the story grabs you from the very first panel and holds your attention to the final moments of the finale, where the art sings to you and your soul is uplifted due to the majesty of the creative process. Unfortunately, this book isn’t anything of the sort. Reyn is one of the swords and magic books, possibly aimed at the younger readers out there. The story is, in this issue at least, a mash up of various fantasy ideas, with lizardmen, a hero with attitude, a young witch – it’s all a little ‘fantasy by numbers’ and lacks any creative flair. The plot is very lightweight, not at all taxing for even the youngest of readers. Characterisation is also a problem, with flat and uninteresting people populating the pages. There just isn’t any kind of hook for the reader.

Reyn #2 Int

Likewise, the art is very ‘cartoon’ style and goes from one banal panel to the next. The combat scenes fail to liven up proceedings and the only bright spot, in terms of the issue, is a section that is more than a little reminiscent of Star Wars… It is rare for me to find a book that fails in almost every area, but it happens. Some times you find material that is the antithesis of what you personally like. Reyn is set in a fantasy genre – one which I enjoy. The problem is, essentially, that there are too many flaws in the book. The story does not engage the reader, the characters are dull, barely even registering as anything other than non-descript. Art is subjective, but in Reyn it is only marginally better than the story. Thankfully, as surely as day follows night, the end of the issue followed the story. This is one book that, as quickly as I have picked it up, I’m putting back down. Issue 3 may come, the cliff hanger indicates that this will be the case, however,  I will not expect it to soar high like a phoenix from the ashes of issue 2.