Goblins!

 

The Goblin Chronicles #1

This is a comic of local interest — the colorist is Will Terrell, the guy who runs the Lubbock Sketch Club.

This is a fantasy adventure, with four constantly warring races — the elves, the trolls, the goblins, and the shapeshifters — in a land dominated by the evil Dark Queen and plagued by marauding demons called the Host. Most of our story concerns Gorim, a young goblin who cares more for reading and tinkering than warfare. Sent on a hunting expedition, he meets up with Zara the troll, Sprig the shapeshifter, and Princess Gween the elf. Though they fight briefly, they find themselves recruited by a tree — actually Imtrix, a powerful wizard — to fulfill an ancient prophecy and liberate the Four Realms.

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s a standard fantasy plot, so it really needs good characters — and lo and behold, that’s what they’ve got. Gorim, Zara, Sprig and Gween are all archetypes, but they’re interesting, they’ve got good personalities, and they’re all written with humor. The artwork’s cute and cartoony — my primary complaint would be the similar appearance of goblins and trolls — the trolls all look like goblins on steroids.

How’s Will’s coloring? Well, it looks fine to me. I know that may sound like damning with faint praise, but that’s not my intention. I’m not an artist of any sort, so it’d be silly of me to pretend to talk meaningfully about the art of coloring a comic book. I’m more than happy with the way the book looks — gracious knows I’ve seen some badly colored comics in my day — either muddy colors that run together or garishly eye-straining to look at — but this one is easy on the eyes, gives a great look to the scenery, and adds its own boosts to the atmosphere and mood of the story.

Oooh, and before I forget, I got a sketch from Will when I was buying this book. Check it out — this is our hero, Gorim.