Abandoned orphan boys covered in feathers, mysterious dark strangers with nefarious abilities, street gangs made up of children, and bored adventurous girls collide in the wide and dangerous and fascinating city of The Maze to make up this intriguing and fascinating fantasy.
Written and Illustrated by Jorge Corona
Colored by Jen Hickman
WHY WE LOVE IT: In the footsteps of Archaia titles Rust, Iron, Will o’ the Wisp, and The Reason for Dragons, debut writer-artist Jorge Corona brings a brand-new voice to the comics industry with Feathers. With our passion for working with fresh talent, we could not be happier to introduce his work to a wider audience.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE IT: There’s never been a better time for fantastic, all-ages comics that embrace both the darkness and beauty in life. Fans of Avatar: Legend of Korra, Mike Mignola, and Amulet will fall in love with Poe, the boy covered in feathers.
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: A recluse boy born covered in feathers must help his first-ever friend, a young girl named Bianca, as she tries to return to her home beyond the slums of the Maze. They must dodge street gangs and child-snatchers along the way, and perhaps together will learn the secrets to his mysterious past.
In an interview a few years ago, the novelist John Crowley spoke about his decision to set the most fantastical elements of his novel, Little, Big, in a city. For so many other fairy tales and fantasies, the magic and adventures and dangers and wonders occur when our heroes set out into the woods; cities, though, surrounded by walls and order, are far more confining and don’t seem to offer as much room to explore. Yet, Crowley argued, the City has its own dangers and treasures, its own adventures and darkness and corruptibility and wonder.
Jorge Corona sets out to explore all this in “Feathers”, from Archaia. Here we have a tale of two cities, or maybe one city sharply divided into distinct districts: one hidden behind massive walls, the other a labyrinthine sprawl bordering on a slum. All in all, a perfect place to set out exploring.
“Feathers” focuses on an 11-year-old boy named Poe, who was born with hollow bones and, of course, is covered in feathers. Taken under the care of a kindly vagabond after being abandoned in one of the many dark alleys of The Maze, he spends his days trying to intervene on behalf of people being intimidated by city officials and his nights raiding the alleys and garbages with his adoptive father, looking for supplies. A chance encounter leads him to meeting Bianca, a girl from the upper crests of the city who dreams of setting out on her adventures, away from her naturally overbearing mother.
It’s also the story of a city, and it’s setting and environment have as much impact on the narrative as any of our young heroes. The buildings are cracking and look like they’re held together with paste; twisted and gnarled and seem like they’re close to collapsing. There’s this sense that the city is constantly enclosing us, cramped and claustrophobic. Corona makes sure that every scene within The Maze has part of the city — whether the architecture or a window or a cart being pulled around by a poor merchant — in frame, and I think that does well to establish its presence and surroundings. (Compare this with the scene in the place behind the White Walls — which is open and bright, but empty.) Jen Hickman also helps sell the atmosphere with her grungy but not off-putting color palette, and her shadowing that amps up the mystery levels to eleven. Just take a look at the sunset scene.
“Feathers” #1 is very much the start of a series. Corona is far more interested in establishing the look and feel of the world than he is with the plot. He throws enough into the script to give us an idea of the characters and their motivations, and I think even from as early as now, how some of their personalities might lead to interesting decisions. They’re familiar enough that younger readers will have something to latch onto, but interesting enough to keep older people invested in their journey.
Continued belowHe’s also clearly having a blast posing a bunch of questions. Why was Poe abandoned? Who is the Scarlet Scarf and what’s up with that evil whistle thing? Does anyone really trust the Captain of the Guard? Is this going to be a revolutionary story or a rags-to-riches Dickensian tale? Who are the two narrators setting up the story at the beginning?
“Feathers” evokes a lot of things: the solicit happily compares it to “Rust” and Legend of Korra and Amulet, and there was also a lot that reminded me of Ba Sing Se from Avatar: The Last Airbender and the world of The Boxtrolls. Even the dueling narrators at the beginning struck me as Gaiman-esque.
Though this may be Corona’s first script — and there are definitely moments where it feels like he’s not sure whether an idea is going to land or kind of fumbles with some story beats — his art more than compensates. In fact, his art bears an assured and energetic confidence, even compared with his work over on “Goners”. His draftsmanship is twisted and skewered, but totally in his control. His character designs are fluid, and animated, with hints of several styles from old school Disney to Don Bluth to Mignola to Gerard Scarfe. And his compositions are strong, moody yet humorous, clever and alive, as he tries to use his frame to tell as much of the story as he possibly can. This book is so incredibly well staged, without being overbearing or obnoxious.
This first issue was much more concerned with asking questions and introducing the environment and characters than launching boldly into the story. However, for a book that’s so built around atmosphere and setting, I don’t think it’s inappropriate.
Final Verdict: 8.2 – Intriguing and captivating, I’m definitely interested to see how this story will play out, especially once Corona fully kicks it into gear.
