Sword of Ages #1

Created, Written & Illustrated by: Gabriel Rodriguez

Colored by: Lovern Kindzierski

Published by: IDW

Gabriel Rodriguez has a pretty big pedigree already. As the co-creator of Locke & Key, it wouldn’t surprise me that there are high expectations for his new series Sword of Ages. With this debut issue, I could see why: this is one of those books that at first, starts off a little confusing, but as the comic continues, I found myself wanting to know more.

The first few pages of the comic start off with a pretty distinctive ship, with a pretty distinctive logo(s) as it is flying through space. Pretty typical start for what seems like a sci-fi book. Next panel down we are introduced quickly to a family within the ship and right away you are given the impression that they are fleeing… something. The next page confirms this as they set their ship to self-destruct as they make their escape with the escape-pods, hoping that the blown-up ship will be an indication that they are dead.

Fast-forward a few years and we start getting glimpses of a child growing-up among a pack of saber tooth tigers with an unknown narrator explaining the growth of this child. After a few pages of this exposition, we learn that it is actually one of the saber tooth tigers that is talking, and they are talking directly to the child that we saw grow up within the last few pages and this is where the comic hooked me.

For one, talking animals are always fun, but after the initial few pages, I wasn’t expecting this. Two, we learn that the girl in question is off on what appears to be a quest with her fellow humans after having spent most of her life with these tigers.

From there, things get a little crazy (crazier?) as Rodriguez introduces the reader to the Elder Gods as well as a set of fellow adventurers. These adventurers, we aren’t told right away who they are, but they do have a part to play later on. As for our main character, we learn that her name is Avalon and that her ride, is an old man with a motorcycle and a talking Raven.

All this amounts to a pretty fun read and some pretty gorgeous art throughout. The one thing you don’t learn right away in this issue, but get a glimpse of as you read the additional pages is, this is a story we’ve seen before. A pretty well-known story at that. But Rodriguez does a good job of hiding that fact throughout the issue, and it is better for it.