Written by: Kurt Busiek
Art by: Ben Dewey & Jordie Bellaire
Publisher: Image
The Autumnlands: Tooth and Claw is back! I haven’t been this excited since Issue 6 of Wayward, and just like that particular comic, Issue 7 of TA:TaC lives up to my expectations, though perhaps not in the way I had expected.
Here’s the thing about TA:TaC: It’s a slow-moving story. I don’t say that as a negative or a positive but as a fact. I look back over the last seven issues and while we’re moving towards something, I still feel like we are very far away from whatever that something is. The other comics I’ve read tend to have a “running at full speed” feel to them because that’s just the way of it. When you have a 20-30 page book released once a month, you have to do as much as you can with that page space.
In the case of Issue 7, what Mr. Busiek does is reestablish our story and then dive headfirst into Dusty and Learoyd as characters. I mentioned in my review of Issue 6 that Dusty hasn’t had enough time to shine; we don’t know much about him. Well, Issue 7 really fixes that.
We learn a lot about Dusty this go around, mostly in his hopes and his faith in Learoyd, and it’s both nice and sad to see his bright optimism start to crumble. Learoyd doesn’t beat around the bush when it comes to how he views the new world he is in or his “quest” to restore magic.
It’s not what Dusty wants to hear.
Ben Dewey and Jordie Bellaire really help sell Dusty, too. He is so dang emotive in every scene he’s in—and also adorable as hell—making his happiness huge and his sorrow heartbreaking. You know how dogs give you that, “But don’t you love me?” look? Yeah, that goes on here and it’s wonderful.
And sad.
In the past, I’ve compared TA:TaC to A Song of Ice and Fire, and as I made my way through issue 7, I found myself making the same mental comparison again. They have a similar kind of slow pacing, and the politics of Westeros and the politics of Keneil certainly have an equal amount of drama, but TA:TaC pushes it a step further with its use of seasons. Winter is coming everyone!
Granted, A Song of Ice and Fire isn’t the first series to use the seasons as a metaphor for change or death, but it’s probably the most popular. I can’t help but wonder if this was a cheeky reference or something that’s being played for straight.
Regardless, my go-to explanation for this comic series is now, “It’s like Game of Thrones but with talking animals.”
My complaints this go around are minor, and pretty much the ones I’ve said since the series began. Not much really happened here. We get some big character development, but in terms of plot, Dusty and Learoyd are stuck below. Neither know exactly what to do. The characters have moved forward, but their quest has not.
Goodfoot also doesn’t show up this time around, and that’s pretty sad because Goodfoot is awesome.
So, there you have it. I’m elated that this series is now back in my life, and I can’t wait to get off work tomorrow and go pick this issue up at the local comic book store. Slowly but surely, we’ll be heading somewhere awesome; I can feel it!
