ARTESIA
by Mark Smylie
Price: $24.95
Archaia Studios Press (Second edition)
Originally published as 6 issues by Sirius Entertainment in 1999
ARTESIA ANNUAL #1
by Mark Smylie
Price: $3.50
Originally published by Sirius Entertainment in 1999
Reviewed by David Lamontagne / writer for Independent Propaganda
ARTESIA itself seems to be a fantasy: a good fantasy comic.
Fantasy, which is often regarded as the callow cousin of science fiction, has usually been done poorly in comics, especially recently, and the first-rate series can be counted on both hands with fingers to spare. For every THIEVES & KINGS, which is excellent, there seem to be five clones of WARLANDS or, worse, the execrable LEGENDLORE. Compounding the problem is the abundance of bad fantasy in other media, like THE WHEEL OF TIME or THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER. Sometimes, it seems to be too much to expect real quality from the long-suffering fantasy genre.
With ARTESIA, the reader can finally wave goodbye to all those low expectations. Mark Smylie has created a detailed, significant, and mature work with this series.
ARTESIA is the first series in the BOOK OF DOOMS, which is expected to comprise 22 six-issue series. I suppose one can expect an annual with every six issues, since that seems to be the case so far. In the beginning a suitably grandiose statement for an epic comicour protagonist Artesia is concubine and captain of King Branimir of Daradja, as well as a priestess and witch. Her pleasant pursuit of the Kings territorial claims is foiled when he betrays her at the same time that news arrives of an invasion of the lands to the south.
The story unfolds with a distinctly archaic quality, so, like any good epic, it begins in medias res. The reader is instantly assailed with hundreds of names of places, gods, and characters, and assimilating them all can seem overwhelming. Unsurprisingly, the story is better on a second reading. To stave off incomprehension, Smylie provides text pieces, collected in the back of the trade paperback, that identify the divinities at work and that provide a brief, partial history of the setting. The annual names the secondary characters, many of whom are barely seen in the first series, and gives capsule biographies.
Needless to say, Smylie has outdone himself with the background of Artesias world. His RPG, ADVENTURES IN THE KNOWN WORLD, has another 60 pages of history for ARTESIA, and none of it is slipshod or shaky. Clearly years of work have gone into this comic, and they’ve been well spent. The politics and geography of the Known World are strikingly realistic and detailed and have a firm basis in the real world. Even more, the more localized setting of the first series is an excellently realized world of gods that walk the hills at night and of battle sites that are marked by turf altars mounted by burnt offerings.
Because of this forethought, all of the details of the milieu are internally consistent, so despite ARTESIA’S resistance to spoon feeding the reader (except for a fairly cleverly handled four-page data dump in issue four), a careful reader with an understanding of religion, politics, and their intersection can follow the work well enough to enjoy it on a first reading.
Smylies writing does hearken to bygone eras; it reminds one of the dreamlike, stoic tones of a Greek epic. It’s unusual to find such adroit use of this style in the work of a writer so young, but it flows well, and although high-flown, the language never gets bombastic. Simultaneously, the writing also never gets very personal, so fans of the easy, conversational dialogue in Glen Cook are going to be disappointed by ARTESIA. On the other hand, ARTESIA also steers well clear of the ridiculous and unrealistic personal relationships of Robert Jordan. No, Smylies professed influences of Tolkien and Howard et al. are readily apparent, and he’s a worthy successor to their mythic stories.
This is not to say that ARTESIA lacks character depth, although it’s largely limited to the eponymous main protagonist. Artesia is well developed, and her psychology is interestingly displayed in her actions. Even more interesting, Smylie uses her correctly as a classical hero, understanding that Achilles, for example, while a great soldier, was a cruel and brutal person. Of course, that’s going to be the case in any interesting fantasy work anyway, but I praise Smylie for avoiding an easy out.
The art is beyond good. Smylie is brilliant in his water-colored depictions of the clangor of war and the harsh worship of alien gods. Panels are clearly defined and the action within them is never unclear. Considering his knowledge of medieval and classical history mentioned above, it goes without saying that his visual presentation of arms and architecture is faultless. The only fault I can find is that many of the characters look very similar to each other, and it can be difficult to determine who’s pictured when a secondary character is speaking, although Artesia herself is usually easy to spot. I understand that this is a problem compounded by a story featuring ethnically similar people wearing uniforms and armor, but I hope that identification becomes easier in the future.
I can recommend ARTESIA wholeheartedly to any fan of fantasy, especially fans of mythic or epic fantasy. I will caution all readers that ARTESIA is not a war story in the same sense that traditional epic is not, so fans of military stories should be forewarned. I can likewise recommend it to art aficionados for reasons that are immediately apparent upon seeing the book. Finally, I think the story is worth a look for anyone tired of superhero or slice-of-life stories and wants to read an adult, rewarding fantasy.
ARTESIA is followed by ARTESIA AFIELD and ARTESIA AFIRE. The fourth volume, ARTESIA BESIEGED, will begin in June.
About the reviewer: David Lamontagne is a freelance writer in Orlando. You can check out his web site by going here.
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