I’ve spent a fair bit of time talking about how glad I am that horror comics have come back in a huge way in recent years, but you know what else should come back? Fantasy comics. Old school, swords and sorcery kind of fantasy comics. Thankfully, “Mirror” #1 is here to help with that.
Read on below for our full spoiler review to find out why you need to be reading what may well be one of the most artistically astonishing comics of the year.
Written & Illustrated by Emma Rios & Hwei Lim
EMMA RÍOS (PRETTY DEADLY, ISLAND) and HWEI LIM (Lalage, Hero) team up for a new ongoing series, following a terrorist talking dog, an idealist mage, and a heroic lab rat on their quest for acceptance.
The world of “8House” continues to be one of the most fascinating projects in comics. Originally an anthology ongoing series that would serve as the home to story arcs by different creators that would blend elements of fantasy and science fiction, it has since spun off into other ongoing series still under the “8House” banner. The first was “From Under Mountains” and now Emma Rios and Hwei Lim have bought “Mirror” into the universe. While the literal connections between the series are thematic at best, “Mirror” entirely encapsulates the ambiguous, poetic and character-driven feel of the other series.
To sum up “Mirror” #1 would be… difficult, to say the least. Rios and Lim have incorporated the same ambiguous storytelling style that “From Under Mountains” employed where the immediate focus of the first issue is on the characters whose motives and connections to the world are slowly revealed over the course of the issue. Many of the larger world building elements remain obfuscated and are only hinted at throughout the issue and while that will likely make this issue a frustrating read for some, it was an element I thoroughly enjoyed. Rios’ writing focuses on the characters throughout the issue, their emotional states and the tragedy of the lives they have been cursed with. There’s a feeling of entrapment for many of them that creates a connective tissue in this first issue.
The focus on characters and their emotional states over the exploring the history of the world allows for the writing to bring heavy emotional arcs to the fore in only the first issue while allowing the artwork to explore the style of the world. Let me put this plainly: this issue is stunningly beautiful. Hwei Lim’s watercolour artwork and loose linework brings a wispy vibrance to the artwork that really sets it apart from your standard fantasy fare. Every single page of this comic is a true frame-it-and-stick-it-in-a-gallery work of art. Even if the cover didn’t tip you off, the first page immediately lets you know that you’re in for a treat art-wise with a page laid out like a stained-glass window. These kinds of experimental layouts, that mix intricate sequential storytelling with a layout that creates an image in and of itself with the shape of the panels, are rife throughout the book and it just elevates the entire issue to a whole new level artistically.
The colours, especially, are really what sells Hwei Lim’s artwork. As mentioned, the watercolour painted style brings a vibrancy to the page, but it also brings a texture to it as well. Throughout the issue, the background of the scene features painted patterns that create an ornate feel to the world while keeping that vibrancy. The layers of painted used to create shading can be seen, the patterns created the paintbrush immediately showcase the fact that a real person did actually paint this. In an age where digital colours have become the norm, it’s surprising just how refreshing seeing handpainted colours in a comic can be. It gives a very humanistic imperfection to the artwork that, in a lot of ways, give it even more life.
This is just as true of Hwei Lim’s art in the main story as it is of Emma Rios’ in the backup story. They both employ similar intricate layouts in their artwork and both use watercolour paints in the colouring yet while their artwork perfectly compliments one another, their styles are immediately and recognisably unique. Rios’ backup story is only a couple of pages, but her artwork makes an fantastic lasting impression for the issue as you get to see two comic creators working in perfect harmony in both writing and artwork. The reflection effect in the layouts, the simple and wispy-feeling linework mirrors the style of Hwei Lim’s artwork and really ties the backup story into the main story. These two are going places.
Continued belowIf there’s only one downside to “Mirror” #1, it would have to be the lettering. The lettering isn’t necessarily bad, mind you, it’s just that the balloons seem to have been hand-drawn onto the page with noticeably varied lineweights. It brings the same kind of humanistic feel as the watercolours, but the actual text itself has a very rigid computer text feel to it that feels at odds with the hand-drawn feel of the balloons. It’s not something that ruins the comic or is even noticeable after a while, but I got the feeling that it would have been improved if it had felt more handwritten.
All in all, though, “Mirror” #1 is a stellar artistic debut. Emma Rios once again proves herself to be just as fantastic a writer as she is an artist, demonstrating both qualities amazingly in this issue, and has found the perfect partner in Hwei Lim. Their styles, in both art and writing, perfectly compliment one another to make a gorgeous and fascinating fantasy comic that feels like nothing you’ve ever read before. There’s no telling just quite where Rios and Lim are going to take this story, but the amount of boundless potential shown in this issue means it’s likely going to be amazing.
Final Verdict: 9.5 – A seriously strong, seriously beautiful debut issue. Please do not skip this.
