Age of Darkness: Book 1

The Age of Darkness compilation gives you an impression that it's a brand new story arc. Well, it is, sort of, but the issues compiled within are more periphery stories rather than the main event.

The main villain is the rerisen Dark Queen, who takes command of the Dark Horde to bring war and suffering to the other Realms. It brings together the separate heroes of various arcs, but they only show up sparsely. Having not read them (Neverland, Agent Red, Robin) is a disadvantage, as these issues doesn't even bother to provide any backstory, just a “see so-and-so issue note). But then again, this series didn't get famous for its dialogue and expositions.

The issues mostly deal with side stories regarding the persecution of the highborns and the Dark Queen gathering allies and biding her time. I found most of them boring, except one about the tooth fairy, which does capture the original feeling of what brought me to the series in the first place.

So, when I requested this I had no idea that this is actually a compendium that's leading up to a new set of comics in this series. I mistakenly assumed that Volume 1 meant the beginning of the whole story. Therefore, this review is going to be short, and mainly about what I actually understood as a reader coming into the series late.

First off, I love the art style but I'm not a huge fan of the character depictions. The characters are extremely stereotypical in the way they're drawn. Male characters are handsome, and generally well toned. Female characters have tiny waists, gigantic breasts, and lovely faces. I absolutely understand that a lot of comics and graphic novels are drawn this way. For this reader though, it's a turn off. Despite the crisp, gorgeously rendered panels, I just couldn't fully immerse myself in the story.

Which is a shame, because the actual story line is fascinating. Imagine a world populated by not just Grimm's Fairy Tale characters, but characters from all areas of fiction. Mythical beings interspersed with characters from Greek mythology. Add in a few original characters, like the Dark Queen herself, and you have a series that's compulsively readable. I kind of want to go back to the beginning, but apparently this volume is the first that actually brings all of these worlds together. Before this, there are separate story arcs and it seems I'd have to read multiple series to catch up. So, we shall see. In the meantime, I'll give this particular graphic novel three stars for entertaining me.