Monday, October 10, 2016

"Green Valley" is a familiar yet intriguing medieval adventure



The Knights of Kelodia are serious badasses.  Consisting of four men - the animated Gulliver, envious Ralphus, young Indrid and the elderly Bertwald - it's a group to reckon with.  These heroes are so resilient and tenacious that not even an army of four-hundred barbarians can take them down.  I guess there isn't always safety in numbers.

The world of Green Valley, created by writer Max Landis, penciller Guiseppe Camuncoli, inker Cliff Rathburn and colorist Jean-Francois Beaulieu, is rich in character detail and visuals that are popping with colors, immediately dazzling the eye.  The valleys and fields that we witness early on, before the first battle against the Barbarians, appear so crisp and sharp that they seem to have been designed on a computer, rather than with pencil and unlimited imagination.  Likewise, the brutality of the world Landis has created can also lead to heartbreak, as Bertwald realizes shortly after returning home, when his wife-to-be, Amalia of Erskine, is brutally burned and murdered by the sudden attack of the barbarians, who've returned for a rematch.

Green Valley #1 possesses all the elements that we've grown to love in Game of Thrones since it has become such a powerhouse TV show whose every new episode is anticipated with such devotion by millions across the globe.  We have battles in open fields, brave warriors/knights who fear no living thing, and an element of the fantastically horrific, something I suspect future issues will explore.  Judging from this opening chapter, this is a series for anyone who appreciates high quality artwork and imaginative storytelling.
A-

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