Fables and fairy tales have been a part of human society for thousands of years, with many fading into obscurity as culture blend and homogenize. In “The Daughters of Ys”, M.T. Anderson and Jo Rioux breathe new life into one such tale. Anderson blends versions of the fable together into an opaque tale filled with nuanced, complex characters and an atmosphere of somber inevitability. Jo Rioux’s ethereal art plays off of this, with the world rendered in soft strokes that allow the magic of Ys to breathe through clear yet enchanting visuals. “The Daughters of Ys” is a spellbinding delivery of a harrowing tale that may have been largely forgotten, but deserves your attention.
Written by M.T. AndersonCover by Jo Rioux
Illustrated, colored, and lettered by Jo Rioux“The Daughters of Ys” is an adaptation of a Celtic folktale. An injured warrior meets a beautiful magical being who is under the command of a sorcerer. The warrior kills the sorceror and marries the magical being. Together, they form the kingdom of Ys and have two drastically different daughters. But, the price of keeping a kingdom strong is high. After the queen passes, the king falls into despair, leaving the burden of rule to his daughters. One is uninterested with royal business, while the other is prepared to do whatever it takes to keep Ys afloat.
Anderson and Rioux starting by showing how the main characters’ parents met was a neat decision. We see the parents meet under tumultuous circumstances. We see them come together to overcome Lady Malgven’s predicament. In the finalpart of the introductory section, we see the warmth and powerful union they share as they form the empire that becomes Ys. This sequence introduces the reader to some of the major forces within the story and allows the reader to dip their toes into the world, without forcing connection to sisters Rozenn and Dahut. When we are introduced to them a few pages later, it is after a devastating page turn reveal. The pair of daughters have the readers’ sympathy before the reader even meets them. This forges a more natural bond to them and heightens the stakes of the book at the same time.
These stakes are nothing less than the stability of Ys itself, which is constantly teetering on the edge of ruin if the necessary sacrifices are not made. Anderson deftly writes Rozenn and Dahut as distinct personalities, giving them both time and justification for growing into their adult selves. Rioux’s character designs dovetail with this. Even though they may come from the same parents, the sisters are shown as being vastly different from each other without falling into caricature. Rozenn’s disregard for her royal status and love of nature are shown by everything from her dun drown hair being slightly unkempt (with the occasional twig lost therein) to wearing more natural, earthy colors of clothing. Dahut’s deeper connection to magic comes through from her sleek, fiery hair and opulent clothing, amongst other design choices. The core of the narrative is built on the two princesses and how they handle the responsibility of running Ys as their father drowns himself in self-pity and wine. Unlike an animated adaptation of an older story, the yarn spun in “The Daughters of Ys” doesn’t bludgeon the reader over the head with a moral lesson as obvious as the sun in the sky on a hot day. Instead, it is of the older school of fairy tale, filled with grey morality and the harshness of humanity and the real world.
“The Daughters of Ys” builds meditatively, revealing the world surrounding Ys at a considered pace. This fundamentally shifts with a stifling scene that brings all of the menace that had previously been stalking the background of the story swiftly to the forefront. Once the true cost of rule is revealed to the reader, the pace picks up considerably as the facade behind Ys begins to crumble around the characters. The book shifts from being a glimpse into a distant world into a tense fantasy where the hero must uncover the truth. While the pacing never becomes blistering, both the writing and visuals maintain their quality. Anderson’s writing remains engaging throughout, and Rioux is as adept at depicting a battle against a mystical evil as she is at showing the subtle art of courtship.
In a time in history when much of modern popular culture seeks to revisit or remake popular stories that have been told countless times, “The Daughters of Ys” stands as one of the more captivating examples of this practice. By choosing to do their own take on a story that most of the world has yet to hear, Anderson and Rioux present the reader with something that has a feeling of being both timeless and fresh. The pair have carefully taken a legend that many are unfamiliar with, and played the role of the local storyteller – asking the reader for a small amount of their time as they transport them to a time and place very different from their own.
