Bearing hallmarks of fantasists like Hayao Miyazaki, Jim Henson, and Guillermo del Toro, “Iscariot”, written and illustrated by S. M. Vidaurri and published by Archaia, is a gorgeously illustrated graphic novel dealing with sickness, abandonment, and magic. The book is chock full of enormous ambition and great passion, and it’s certainly wonderful to look at, but it ultimately struggles to bring together everything it sets out to achieve.
Written and Illustrated by S. M. Vidaurri
What’s to Love: If you’ve read S.M. Vidaurri’s first original graphic novel Iron: Or the War After or his issue of Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Witches, you might understand when we say his watercolor stylings are hauntingly beautiful to look at-they have a soft gentleness to them, yet can convey the most stark of imagery. His new OGN has us completely mesmerized once again, invoking comparisons to the Legends of Korra and the works of Hayao Miyazaki.
What It Is: When Carson, a young girl living with cancer, is bestowed with age-old magic by a rebellious sorcerer named Iscariot, she must navigate her new powers, face the life she had thought she left behind forever, and take on the order of magicians who want to control her destiny. Carson discovers that Iscariot’s intentions might not have been as altruistic as it first appeared, and learns the hard way that magic comes at a cost.
If nothing else, “Iscariot” by S. M. Vidaurri has a strong aesthetic. From the grandly drawn watercolor panels to the meticulous and precise page layouts to the superb decorative meanders appearing at the most important moments, this is an overall pleasing book to look at. Vidaurri’s artwork is something to absorb. You can take practically any given page out of this 150-page graphic novel and admire so much to it.
Vidaurri tells the story of a rebellious sorcerer, Iscariot, whose looking for a different source of magic than what he and his academy practice. Traditionally, their power comes from human sacrifices, but, following the efforts of his old master, Iscariot’s trying to find a way to eliminate that necessity. He winds up in a hospital, trying to find energy from the people about to depart the mortal coil and channel that into magical abilities. It’s here that he meets Carson, a young headstrong girl battling cancer. Carson tends to wander around at night, keep to herself, and have a bit of a temper. Iscariot recruits her into helping him, which doesn’t sit well with his acadmey.
There are some well delivered wizard battles. There’s some interesting set pieces and locations to look at, and the whole story feels like it was adapted from a tapestry legend. The colors Vidaurri paints with, in particular, should be noted, because they carry a lot more emotion and wonder than the actual narrative.
Vidaurri had some pretty big ambitions with this story, combining thematic elements of abandonment (Carson from her mother, Iscariot from his teachers) and sickness, both mental and physical. The two focus characters are dealing with a lot of pain which they each try to channel into their work and the book’s the most interesting when he’s juxtaposing their methods of coping.
In short, the pieces of this comic all feel right, but none of them ever come together.
A subplot with the mother kind of appears (actually, it suddenly goes from the background to the foreground for some reason, but I don’t think Vidaurri established enough to make this effective) and other characters come onstage but sort of blend into each other. The pace and the rhythm of the book is off, sometimes taking on a dream-like flow, sometimes channeling a latter Harry Potter battle intensity, and sometimes trying to go for something emotionally arresting, and it doesn’t feel like Vidaurri established enough of a tone or meter to pull this off. He also gets caught up in the emotional moments, but rarely varies them, and the narrative comes off as overwrought and melodramatic. The book feels like Vidaurri wanted it to be a spectacle, but never let anything in the story become spectacular.
This was a book I wanted to like a lot more than I did. I think “Iscariot” is exceptionally illustrated and, even now, I just keep flipping through the pages, soaking up Vidaurri’s images. The story line itself just feels like it came up short. There’s so many interesting ideas and ambitions in this story that it’s disappointing it came together so awkwardly.
Final Verdict: 6.2 – Gorgeous visuals almost hide an uneven story.
