Sword of Sorcery featuring Amethyst #2

Before I say anything about the second issue of Sword of Sorcery please allow me to first make this general imperative:  buy this comic book!  It always scares me when a series, especially from DC or Marvel, sales low and risks being canceled before its time.  Now, be assured I am not telling you to buy a bad comic.  Hell, I’m not even telling you to buy a mediocre comic.  Sword of Sorcery featuring Amethyst #2 is nothing short of an absolutely great comic book.  It is fun, it charming, and most importantly it is different.

This second issue takes a break from the action we witnessed in issues 0 and 1 and further sets up and explores the universe Christy Marx is so masterfully crafting.  Part of what is so wonderful about this particular issue is that while this deep and complex universe is unraveled before the readers, their confusion is mirrored on the face of our protagonist, the young Princess Amaya.  She is just as obviously confused by the customs of the strange world she finds her self on as we are.  For this, I have to recognize the obvious talents of Aaron Lopresti.  He puts so much empathy and expression into his characters’ faces in this issue that the dialogue is almost unnecessary in places.  The confusion and tension in Amaya’s face are present on almost every page.  Not only does Lopresti excel in establishing the characters in Sword of Sorcery, but he also does an equally admirable job in fleshing out the actual world our protagonists inhabit.  The double page spread we got as a title page was just gorgeous.  I know that is a lame adjective, but really, it is absolutely gorgeous.

By and large, I enjoyed the second issue of Sword of Sorcery so much because it is just so radically different from anything else I am reading at the moment.  Fantasy is a genre that is woefully underrepresented in comics.  Understandably so when one considers the amount of work it takes to make a fantasy story successful.  Readers can’t just be inundated with information, but to make the story compelling, they have to be able to find themselves firmly in the new universe the writer and artist are presenting.  Luckily, Marx and Lopresti are more than up to the task.  Readers are organically introduced to the customs and rules of Gemworld.  We learn about this world at the same pace our heroine does and because of this we grow so much more attached to Amaya.  Two issues in, I think you have to be absolutely crazy not to want more adventures of the Princess of House Amethyst.

I would be absolutely remiss if I failed to mention the Beowulf back up included in this issue.  I would have never guessed that one of my favorite things to come out of the New 52’s third wave of books would have been a sci-fi retelling of the classic Anglo-Saxon epic.  It is just plain fun.  I mean, what fanboy wouldn’t be ecstatic seeing a robotized Beowulf recognize Waynetech and cross-reference Animal Man and Beast Boy?  Four dollar comic books are a hard pill to swallow, but with solid content upfront and an equally enjoyable backup, it really isn’t asking all that much.

So, once more I exhort you:  buy Sword of Sorcery Issue 2.  Buy one for yourself, buy one for your buddy or buy one for your mother.  Either way, support this comic book.  I promise, it is worth it.