Lantern City #1
Archaia
Written by: Paul Jenkins & Matthew Daley
Art by: Carlos Magno
A steampunk world has so much to offer on so many fronts! The writers are able to create a story that can revolve around how hard the times are, or they can show us as readers how the situations and settings don’t matter, just the story being told. The illustrators of steampunk have an entire world to fascinate and wow the readers as well. This is an unexplored city full of breathtaking architecture and if something doesn’t make sense, it is fine because this is steampunk and all that we know about current technology has been thrown out.
This series is set in Lantern City. A very well thought out world due to the amount of effort that has been put into trying to make this idea a tv show. Back in 2013, the creators had this series on track to become an original tv show, but it has been delayed from it’s 2014 release. Now we get to read about this story in what will be Archaia’s largest launch to date.
Steampunk always amazes me with the devotion of the fans seen at comic cons, and the breathtaking cityscapes that we get to explore. This particular story tells of a city surrounded by walls to “protect” its inhabitants. But not everyone thinks the walls are to keep the dangers out, but to trap the people in. In a hierarchy of three tiers;The Greys, the guards and the people, it is becoming very clear quickly that everything is not fair and the people are on the verge of revolt. In a society where everyone is punishable for the actions of another, the revolutions takes the decree of The Grey’s and turns it into a slogan to rise behind, “The actions of one are the actions of all”
This comic is well written, as to quickly get illustrate the mind set of our main character Sander and how he just wants to live peacefully by obeying everything, even though he sees people dying before him. The story also creates a picture of this dystopian city so effective that the reader feels the hardships of this society within each panel.
In this society, the people as the lowest class serve the guards, who in turn serve the Greys who supposedly keep the city safe. So far we have seen the poor and devastated lowest class, who I feel bad for just from seeing a day in the life of one of them. We have also seen the guards who look terrifying and powerful, displaying their policing brutality and powerful armor. As much freedom as Steampunk allows, the art of Carlos Mango distinguishes this particular version as the grit and grime of each city scape seeps off the pages.
The story quickly escalates and Sanders is forced to take action, no longer being a bystander. My interest too has been forced to look up everything I can find out about this story and its future not only with comics and novels, but the potential TV show.