Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Reyn #1Reyn #1
Image Comics
Symons, Stockman & Little

The latest fantasy launch from Image is a premise that you probably have seen a number of times before. The comic sets up two lead characters and how they came to meet. Unsure of whether the two characters will end up a pair or not, a situation arises where they are forced together. The comic book is nice to look at and has some ideas in here but has an average opening issue and some odd execution. You may want to check this out but I wasn't blown away by what I read.

The comic book opens with a description of the land and what has occurred on it over the past number of years. It has a similar vain to that of Star Wars. Here were these knights (much like Jedi knights) that took down evil and eventually vanished. We then find a lone knight coming to the aid of a simple farming family.

The best part of the book is when the knight battles the giant spider at the farm. The pages flow nicely and the action and imagination are thick on each panel. The book then begins to lose its footing.

The action scene is followed by an awkward dinner scene with the family. They are a quirky bunch that wants the knight to stay. They then offer up their daughter as a way to keep him there. Continuing the flesh-trading theme the knight comes across a caravan of slaves being run by someone that appeared, at first glance, to also be a knight, though he's not. It turns out a frog-man was hiding under a cloak, acting as a guard, riding with the fake-knight. The frog-man brings news of the return of the knights to his frog-king.

Finally, we get to the lead character, Reyn. The knight finds her in a town and in trouble. She's been labeled a heretic and things aren't going well for her. The knight, through no action of his own, is forced to help.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsThe book has some cool elements in it, such as the creatures. However, the knight's motivations are not clear. Is he intended to be a shady character that helps when he feels like it and ignores a cry for help when that also suits him? The book ends with an odd cliffhanger based on the setup of the final scene, which is in line with entire book having an odd set of transitions from one scene to another. I did like the pace of the book though so, again, there are workable elements in the comic book.

The artwork is a highlight. The pages are detailed and colored beautifully. The book has a dirty look to it that matches up with the story perfectly. The book's flow is also aided by the artwork. Visually, this book is very solid.

Reyn is a comic book that relies on fantasy and chivalry elements. The book certainly has that King Arthur-quest feel to it as we find a knight wandering the countryside. The comic has some okay characters, but ones that aren't too developed yet. I'm still not sure what this book will ultimately be about at this point. Generally, this is an average comic book with some good ideas that are underdeveloped and needed some better execution to fully come together.

2 out of 5 Geek Goggles