Two-in-One Review: Tall Tails Randy and Don revisit the kingdom of Lifdell and its anthropomorphic citizens, all of whom have Tall Tails to tell. Don: Earlier this year, the folks from Dream Weaver Press sent along the first five chapters of their furry comic, Tall Tails, along for review (click HERE to read that Two-in-One review). The next few chapters have landed in our laps again, so join Randy and me as we delve once again into this world of swordplay and sorcery. Randy: This time out, we'll be taking a look at the next four issues of Tall Tails, a black-and-white book that merges epic fantasy with anthropomorphic animals. With the Thundercats making their return and Crossgen making fantasy a hot genre again, Tall Tails has a fair bit of competition in its arena in the current market. Tall Tails #s 6-9 published by Dream Weaver Press written by Jose Calderon illustrated by Daphne Lage Don: In the Kingdom of Lifdell, the greedy and angry Earl of Hadge plots to become king, and to do that, he must get his young cousin, Prince Christian, out of the way. Unfortunately, two knights -- Ravenwood and Cromwell -- and their comrades stand in his way, and not just when it comes to his plans for Christian. Hadge also has something illegal brewing, and it hinges on a ship of pirates making their way out of the Hadge port unhindered. Most of that synopsis could easily apply to the previous five issues of this series (the first four of which have been collected in a small trade-paperback edition), and that's one of the problems with this book. The character boast a lot of heart and the plotting is complex, but the story really doesn't seem to be going anywhere. We're nine issues in, and aside from some scattered character development, little has changed since the story began. Randy: Honestly, I can agree with you about the slow pace of the overall story, but I think it's a symptom of a larger problem: the enormous and often-too-similar cast. Calderon and Lage have well over a dozen major characters in this book, and with the black and white artwork, it isn't always easy to tell them apart. This wouldn't be such a problem if the book were focused on one plot, but that is not really the case. Don: Instead, the focus seems to be on subplots. There's the dark secret from Gabriel's past that's connected to his berzerker rage, and Pandora ponders motherhood. These moments do bring out the best in the characters. The most striking character is easily Raulph, the crude sorcerer. He's a lot of fun and far more down-to-earth than the rest of the cast. Lage's artwork is typical of furry comics. There's a beauty and nobility to most of the characters, and some of the designs really stick with you and heped key players stand out. Mind you, there are others that tend to blend. Quite a few of the characters -- key ones among them -- look far too much alike. Furthermore, Lage's thick linework tends to lose some of the detail in the more action-oriented scenes. Randy: Agreed, for the most part. Some of the action scenes become a morass of ink and unfamiliar faces, and I often wind up coming out of the action sequence with no understanding of what just happened. There are some exceptions, and perhaps indications that Lage is getting better at distinguishing the characters, with Pandora's impressive swordplay in issue eight and a gathering of nearly the entire cast in issue nine to reiterate their personalities and personal subplots, but in general I find it hard to distinguish between the characters. Don: The pacing of the book is a bit odd as well. For example, the sixth issue ends with Raulph coming face-to-face with a buxom, lusty lady, but Calderon doesn't pick up the subplot again until #9. I kept waiting for Raulph to turn up again in between those issues, and it struck me odd that it didn't happen. I suppose one could argue that Tall Tails is meant to be read in larger chunks, but I have read it in large chunks, and it didn't help with the pacing at all. Randy: As I noted in my introduction, there's a lot of competition in the fantasy genre right now, and Tall Tails needs to make some improvements before it can be considered a serious contender. However, I will credit Calderon with giving the story an epic and sweeping feel, and I like most of his characters, I just feel like they need to be pared down and made more easily identifiable. There's certainly plenty of potential in this book, but there's also plenty of work to be done in order to make it live up to that potential. For more information about Tall Tails, visit the Dream Weaver Press website. Email Randy and Don comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.