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“The Shadow Glass” #1

By | March 25th, 2016
Posted in News, Reviews | % Comments

Writer/artist Aly Fell takes us back to the 1500’s in the darkly magical debut of “The Shadow Glass”. Read on for our review but be warned, there are spoilers within.

Written by Aly Fell
Illustrated by Aly Fell

A young student of England’s greatest occultist learns her real father is in league with the devil. When Rose finds out that the man who raised her isn’t her father, she ignores his warnings about the terrible secrets of her own past and seeks answers from her childhood teacher Dr. John Dee, the queen’s occult adviser.

Creator Aly Fell is mostly known for his gorgeous and often times, sexy pin ups and covers. Fell has worked as an illustrator for quite some time with an inclination to darker images that channel magic and medieval times. “The Shadow Glass” brings all this together by being an adventure that features an interesting lead protagonist, magic and gorgeous art. This is a solid debut that really sets itself apart from other fantasy series going on right now.

“The Shadow Glass” #1 takes us back to late 1500’s England. Rosalind is a young woman raised by her single father after her mother’s death when she was born. Rosalind is not your typical woman of her era. She frequently wears men’s clothing (already a reason to love her) and is interested in things that break down the gender roles of the time period. On the surface, she seems to have it made pretty well for a woman in her time but all this is about to come apart as the man who raised her reveals that he is not her father and someone much more sinister is.

Rosalind is the center of the “The Shadow Glass” #1 and the thing about her is that there’s a lot still unexplored. There’s some stuff there, like the already mentioned styling but she’s not really in full control of the situation at hand. This isn’t exactly something we haven’t seen before but what the trope does is effectively set up what will come next for Rosalind. Very early on she’s in a corner and being hit with a lot of different things very quickly. She’s not a hero and it’s unclear if that’s what her path is still but what Fell does nicely is he uses his first issue to clearly set up the bigger plot and there’s little question as to what event we’re following. Rosalind leaves a little something to be desired but we do see glimpses of a rebellious personality when we see her speak to her father the first time. She’s not as obedient as women during this time where and it’s a blessing for this kind of story that approaches the time period in a more classical way. Rosalind still has a way to go before becoming a truly great protagonist but there’s plenty here to work with, as Fell has not pushed himself into a corner with her.

Fell’s script doesn’t try to do too much and in the dialogue, you get something a bit more classical instead of an attempt to make the 1500’s sound “hip” or “modern”. With this though, comes the risk of being too wordy and there are some instances of that. However, the way the language is written is what sets it apart from a lot of titles going right now. It wants you to take it seriously and be transported to another time and for the most part, it succeeds at this. This is helped by the fact that Dr. John Dee was a real occultist and so “The Shadow Glass” becomes a bit more tangible as historical fiction.

Fell’s art really captures another time period and it’s quite a lot to handle both the art and writing for a full miniseries like this. Given that Fell is mostly an illustrator, the art here in “The Shadow Glass” is much stronger than the writing. The setting is so well done without feeling over glamorized. There’s a certain grunginess to Fell’s England that really sets it apart from the more glamorous takes we tend to see. You believe the heat, the smells and detailing in the buildings and walkways are nothing to ignore. The first page is a sweeping shot of Thomas coming off a ship and it just gets better from there as far as scenery. Outdoor scenes have a great sense of lightness and little things are noticeable, like grass leaves blowing in the breeze. This is made all the better by the layered colors Fell uses to make things pop even better.

The clothing designs for each character are exceptional. Capes, swords, gowns, high collars – this book has all of that. Fell has clearly done some research and so, these outfits are fully realized. If you’ve ever seen some of his pin ups, you won’t be shocked in any way about this. These costumes are detailed down to the finest point like buttons and texture. The character designs fall in line with a lot of what you see with paintings from this period, so again, you really feel like you’re taken somewhere else. The facial expressions do at times feel a little over done but I would rather see something exaggerated than something static and flat.

Final Verdict: 7.3 – “The Shadow Glass” #1 is a solid debut that makes a strong case for you to stick around and see how this shakes out.


Jess Camacho

Jess is from New Jersey. She loves comic books, pizza, wrestling and the Mets. She can be seen talking comics here and at Geeked Out Nation. Follow her on Twitter @JessCamNJ for the hottest pro wrestling takes.

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