Come Hell or High Water
Chapter 1-3
Updates Wednesdays
Written and drawn by Mori, color and writing by Jenny
Reviewed by Mel Lake
Pirates and princes and princesses, oh my! Apologies to anyone expecting a sports-themed review this week due to the fact that apparently some people played football this weekend. However, in my world, pirates and romance on the high seas is far more entertaining. So, let’s set sail with “Come Hell or High Water,” not to be confused with the excellent Chris Pine movie with a similar name.
Prince Gladimir of the fantasy kingdom of Yvoire meets in secret with his pirate boyfriend Cicada. Tensions are high and there are rumors of an oncoming war that will make Cicada rich and force Gladimir to travel in search of peace. Gladimir breaks off the illicit relationship, stating that the pair is destined for different paths. Those paths merge again soon, however, when the prince’s new fiance catches them in the midst of trading information. There’s much more to Princess Spheci than diplomacy and wedding plans, however, and she attacks Cicada’s ship. Gladimir appears and switches places with her, setting off with Cicada and the rest of the pirate crew.
Perhaps I’m simply looking to fill the Our Flag Means Death-shaped hole in my life, but a simple tale of pirates and princes fit the bill for me this week. The premise of “Come Hell or High Water” is fairly simple: a prince and a pirate fall in love, shenanigans ensue. I would generally read a story based on that alone. But this one starts in an interesting place and works both backwards and forwards, showing their relationship develop through flashbacks and moving forward after their initial breakup. I’m not a huge reader of romance, but I do love a good story about people falling in love. Sometimes, though, what can be more interesting is seeing what happens afterward. Gladimir and Cicada break things off because their lives are simply too different from each other. So what happens when they’re thrown back together? Do they decide to rekindle the relationship? Or do they stay simmering exes? Both possibilities are crackling with potential sources of tension.
The other storyline this comic sets up is that of Princess Spheci, who fulfills another classic trope: the crossdressing princess. Think Mulan but with pirates. I’m here for it already. In chapters one through three, we didn’t see much of Spheci other than her initial introduction and then her battle with Cicada, but she has the potential to be an interesting wildcard in the wider world of Gladimir and Cicada.
In terms of the art style and character design of “Come Hell or High Water,” there’s a simplicity to the layout and overall artwork that I appreciated. I read a few other comics this week to try and find something I liked, and it struck me that all the ones I set aside were simply too involved in their worldbuilding and too lengthy in their exposition and dialogue. This one gets the job done via simple, sparing speech bubbles and I think that’s the approach I find works best for me as a reader. When a character over-explains the dynamics of a fantasy kingdom, some readers may eat that type of explanation up, but my brain shuts off. This comic uses straightforward comics layouts, with the most common being three or four horizontal panels stacked on top of each other to show time progression. It’s not fancy but it’s easily readable and sometimes that’s the best choice—I’ll take readability over inscrutable fancy layouts anyday.
The character design isn’t overly complicated, either, leaving all the characters easy to tell apart and expressive enough for you to get the gist of their emotions as the story progresses. One other thing that tickled me about this one is how the main pirate is clearly modeled after Zoro from One Piece, to the point where I kept expecting him to put a sword in his mouth. And now that I think about it, Gladimir looks a bit like a white-haired Howl.
“Come Hell or High Water” is an easy read for fans of pirates, LGBTQ+ stories, royal romances, and adventure on the high seas. The lack of dense worldbuilding in the beginning chapters is a draw for me, but might deter readers looking for a fantastical world with complicated lore.
