Written and illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi
Kazu Kibuishi’s thrilling, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling series continues!
Emily and her friends think they’ll find the help they need in Cielis, but something isn’t right. Streets that were once busy are deserted, and the townspeople who are left live in crippling fear. Emily is escorted to the Academy where she’s expected to compete for a spot on the Guardian Council, the most powerful Stonekeepers. But as the number of competitors gets smaller and smaller, a terrible secret is slowly uncovered–a secret that, if left buried, means certain destruction of everything Emily fights for.
Amulet is back for it’s latest installment! Hoorah!
Let’s chat about it after the cut. Some minor spoilers are discussed.
One of the things you hear most often when in a place actively immersed in the landscape of comics is this: “there aren’t enough all-ages comics that kids can read.” This is something that is sorely not true. While sure, Marvel and DC may not have a very wide line of diverse and interesting comics that kids can read, there is by far no shortage in smart, intelligent and effortlessly enjoyable all-ages comics in today’s market. And for great all-ages comics that actually define the term “all-ages”, one need look no further than Scholastic – and this is where Kibuishi’s Amulet comes in.
With the latest volume of Amulet, we pick up exactly where we left off with volume 3 – Miskit and Cogsley are missing, but Emily, her family and new friends have found the lost city of Cielis, a floating city in the clouds. However, upon arriving they find that not all is well in the fabled city where the famous Stonekeeper Council resides, and Emily very quickly finds herself wrapped up in a fight for her life under the city with only her new companion Max to help her through it. And wouldn’t you know it, once again Kibuishi ends the book with only the slightest amount of optimism as everything most certainly does not go well for our heroine throughout the book.
Amulet is an interesting endeavor. It’s ostensibly a kid’s book, but it’s only a kid’s book in the same way Jeff Smith’s Bone was “only a kid’s book.” Amulet is actually remarkably adult, all things considered, and while this can honestly be said for just about any volume of the series, this particular installment is rather dark. It’s similar to Empire Strikes Back in that nature; sure, our heroes live to fight another day, but at what cost? And at what point of being beaten down will our heroes just give up, as seemingly all odds are against them? It’s in this that Amulet finds it’s greatest success – yes, this is a book that is designed so that anyone at any age can access it, but the book never loses itself in trying too hard to play to just one audience. This is a book that I can give to my nephew without fear that my sister will think the material is too adult, yet I too can enjoy for the same reasons that I would enjoy any comic I read.
I don’t think at this point, considering we’re at the fourth volume, we really need to discuss how good the story is to an elaborate extent. I’d think that if you were with the series still by the fourth volume (considering this isn’t released in periodical form, just graphic novel form), then assumedly you get it; the book is damn good. It’s like a hybrid mix of a Final Fantasy and a Studio Ghibli film, full of rich characters, an intricate and intense storyline and absolutely beautifully lush visuals. Kibuishi is certainly a master storyteller, and he proves it further with every volume by telling a full story per book that you could theoretically read without having read previous volumes and still enjoy (although that’s not recommended, mind you) in the same way you could watch any part of a series of films in any order. And with the full Bolt City team doing colors and backgrounds with him, Kibuishi is putting out a book that is just absolutely stunning to look at.
Continued belowThis is a comic that not only everyone can read and enjoy at any age, but it is a comic that everyone should own at any age, because this (and the entire series, of course) are all building up to be the next big all-ages classic, on par with Bone. It’s most certainly a comic that you don’t want to miss for any reason.
But hey, if none of that does it for you, just watch this:
Is that convincing enough for you?
Final Verdict: 9.0 – we’re saving the 10.0 for the big finish, whenever that may be.
