Summoners War: Awakening #3 // Review
Eve and her band of pirates have come for the ship. There may only be a few of them, but they DO come armed with both a gryphon AND a unicorn. Best not to tangle with them. All they have to do is surrender, and they’ll be fine in Summoners War: Awakening #3. Writer Justin Jordan continues the high fantasy adventure series that is brought to page and panel by artist Luca Claretti. Color graces the visuals courtesy of Igor Monti. The breezy sword and sorcery adventure shoots across the page untroubled by any great thematic depth. Various characters tumble around on the page in another enjoyable adventure.
Rai and Tomas know that they’re with a pirate. They know that there are certain things that go along with being a pirate. There’s something unsavory about it, though. Stealing all of the crew’s supplies and leaving them stranded with their ship disabled seems particularly sinister, though. Eve’s ship seems to be altruistic enough. She’s taken the rations she took from the military vessel and given them to the starving population of a small desert town. Still...Tomas has his suspicions about her. She doesn’t seem to be doing what she’s doing out of the goodness of her heart.
Jordan keeps the adventure rolling straight through the issue. The opening action encounter is followed by engaging intrigue as Rai and Tomas discuss matters in town. Then there’s adventure to be had in the town itself. There’s a lot of well-orchestrated action, and it is given just the right amount of mystery and intrigue around the edges with concerns about power and responsibility and questions about Eve that are likely to become major plot points later on in the series. The rhythm and pacing of the story are well-balanced throughout the issue.
Claretti’s manga-inspired art has a bouncy, rubbery energy to it that never takes itself too seriously. Magic has a very palpable presence on the page in dynamic sequences that are given more than enough space to assert themselves once the action really gets going. Monti’s colors embrace the desert atmosphere of the action. Sunlight hits all of the characters in appealing ways, providing a great deal of depth in and around everything. Dust and sand coat the corners of the small village, adding to the atmosphere. Claretti’s dramatic angles in and around the village lend extra visual appeal to the architecture in the background.
Jordan and Claretti advance Rai and Tomas into further mysteries through a couple of big action sequences. Monti’s colors bring art and script together in a complete package that has a very distinct presence on the page. Rai and Tomas continue to be interesting characters moving through the end of the third issue of the series. The plot doesn’t have a whole lot going for it beyond the central adventure, but it doesn’t really need anything more. It’s a fun ride. Any attempt at turning it into anything more than it is would encumber the fun, breezy action.
