Serpent Wars VOL 1 (AAm/Markosia Publishing)
Story By: Christian Rodriguez and Chris Campanozzi
Art By: Antonio Rojo
Colors By: Clonerh!
Every legend and myth has a basis on some little piece of truth. All the stories told by drunken sailors about how they are the sole survivor of some horrible encounter with sea monsters, have a tangible element to their story that is based on something real. These story’s are what stir a lifelong ambition by young Thaddeus to become a stowaway on a ship bound for the Americas in the 1800s. With promises of fame, glory and riches to the captain and his crew upon returning to port with some mythical monster, Thaddeus is allowed to stay on board and talks his way out of being thrown to the sharks.
Events begin to happen quickly as the ship enters into a naval battle with another vessel, and a mysterious figure is seen breaking apart the hull of the enemy ship. Dragging it down to the depths of the ocean. This is all wonderfully captured in the art of Antonio Rojo, he makes the pages flow so naturally, it gives them the feeling of motion and life. The chaos brought about by the ship battle is well organized within the pages to not be confusing and disorienting. Once the ship and its crewmen venture out to a mysterious island in the middle of the ocean, the story being told begins to become much more intriguing. There are always two sides to a war, the victors and the defeated. What we learn about the Serpent Wars, is that there is a good sea serpent and an evil sea serpent, but as the adventurers begin to explore the island, not everything is as it seems, or at least as it was told to them by the natives of the island (serpent worshipers).
The colors and illustrations that show this mysterious island in the middle of the ocean are amazing. It makes me want to go exploring to find a mythical site with a golden temple and vast mystery as its prize. With Thaddeus and his fellow adventures beginning to uncover the hidden truth about the natives, the race is on to stop the seemingly evil plot that is unfolding under their noses. The eventual showdown between good and evil is capitalized by the two sea serpents reigniting their ageless war to declare the rightful ruler of the island. Once the adventurers board their ship again, they hurry off to not be caught in the fall out between the two legendary monsters, but as the theme of the comic comes full circle again, not everything is as it appears, leaving us with a cliff hanger that hints at the fates of the crewmen.
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