Written by: Joshua Williamson
Art by: Andrei Bressan
Publisher: Image
Birthright is the newest comic from Joshua Williamson (Ghosted, Nailbiter) and Andrei Bressan. Williamson departs from the horror genre in this fantasy adventure story about young boy named Mikey who is transported to another realm in the middle of a game of catch with his father.
In Image’s announcement of the comic, Williamson said that he has been working on Birthright since before Ghosted was released. He said he was always inspired by stories where people traveled to distant, magical lands, but that they never dealt with the consequences upon returning home. With Birthright, he hopes to explore this as well as the idea of having a destiny, and what you do after you fulfill your destiny.
The first issue of Birthright deals with what happens on Earth after Mikey goes missing. His parents’ marriage has deteriorated, and his father is being blamed for his disappearance. His older brother, Brennan, is trying to hold it all together and is forced to mediate between his bitter mother and alcoholic father.
A year passes after Mikey’s disappearance, and the authorities find a grown man dressed in odd clothing claiming to be Mikey. He claims to have been called to another realm called Terrenos to defeat the evil being God King Lore. It took him many years, but he finally defeated Lore and was able to return home as a grown man.
Williamson’s writing is excellent in this issue. The world he created is different from many fantasy lands. Terrenos is tough and mean, even the Gideons who are fighting with Mikey are rough around the edges. Mikey grows in to a full grown man before he is able to defeat Lore and return to Earth, clearly he is in for a bit of a hard time.
But Williamson’s focus is the after in this story, and it’s already going a different direction than I expected. The end contains a bit of a twist, proving that even first issues can be surprising. The story is fresh, and we’re already seeing a emotional depth in most of the characters. Williamson is already turning the typical children’s fantasy story on its head by focusing on the nightmare back home when children go missing, and then again with the emphasis on the return home as a changed person.
Andrei Bressan’s art is great in this issue, and the way his style flexes between Terrenos and Earth is flawless. There is realism and darkness on Earth, and Terrenos is alien and vast, with strange clothing and strange creatures. Bressan’s linework is bold and sharp, and in combination with Adriano Lucas’ coloring, it sets the mood for both lands perfectly.
Birthright is set up to be another outstanding ongoing series from Skybound and Image Comics. Williamson is taking fantasy tropes to a whole new level, and I am excited to see how his focus on the psychology of dealing with the aftermath of a child’s disappearance as well as the aftermath of an epic adventure.
