Image Comics reviews 4/28/21 – Bitter Root #12, Department of Truth #8

Helm Greycastle #1

Helm Greycastle brings readers to a new fantasy world that explores a far different setting than is typically found in the genre as it brings a Latinx flair.

I wish more fantasy writers, particularly modern ones, understood that minorities actually enjoy the genre and would like to see characters that resemble them. It’s refreshing to see writer/co-creator Henry Barajas incorporate other cultures to include in the story.

Barajas includes the basic archetype characters with warriors, dwarves, elves, orcs and possibly a dragon along with what sounds like a fairly simple quest. Simple until the journey brings the party to an unexplored land ruled by Montezuma. Some of the characters’ agendas become a little fuzzy in the back half of the issue, but Barajas has a few more issues to clean that up.

Rahmat M. Handoko’s art is mostly clean with some nice character positioning during action sequences and a good sense of the lively battles. Some of the characters are a bit stiff in dialogue heavy scenes. Fortunately the fantastic character designs compensate for some of the more rigid posing.

Co-creator/colorist Bryan Valenza utilizes a color palette that channels a classic fantasy visual particularly when the party arrives in Aztec Mexica.

In a nice bonus, there’s a Latinx one-shot RPG, Sacred Armor, written by Tristan J. Tarwater and drawn by Jen Vaughn. That’s a cool add-on that makes for fun supplemental material for genre fans.

Helm Greycastle has a few plot and art challenges, but the freshness of the fantasy setting still easily makes it worth checking out for genre fans.

Rating: 8 out of 10