Turn your radio dial up to "epic," as Don and Randy explore the first two trades and half of the third mini-series of Mark Smylie's longform fantasy comic Artesia.
Randy:
We should probably start this review out with an apology to Mark Smylie and the crew at Archaia Studios Press, because we've had the Artesia material in hand for almost four months now. In our defense, however, reviewing all of the Artesia material heretofore published is quite a task. The reading alone took me about a week!
Don:
The Artesia books -- Artesia, Artesia Afield and Artesia Afire -- are about war, betrayal and spirituality, and there's definitely an audience waiting out there for it. Those who delight in European comics such as those offered by Humanoids Publishing, those who love the work of Barry Windsor-Smith and those who were fascinated by the larger-than-life scenes of war in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers will likely appreciate what creator Mark Smylie has to offer here.
Artesia, Artesia Afield TPBs & Artesia Afire #1-3
written/illustrated by Mark Smylie
published by Archaia Studios Press
Don:
Artesia was once little more than a concubine, serving only to pleasure her king. Her grew to be more than that, though. She became his lover, an adviser... and under the tutelage of the king's soldiers, she became the most skilled and fierce captain in the king's army. Artesia lives a tortured life, though. Men who fear to see such strength and battle prowess in a woman whisper behind her back, plot against her and yearn for her demise. Furthermore, Artesia's faith lures spirits to her, supernatural beings to tend to her, that haunt her and that warn her of dangers to come.
Randy:
Artesia is an unusual project in many ways, an epic fantasy that steers clear of the elves, dwarves and magic rings common to the genre and has, instead of a band of adventurers, a dangerous and deadly woman at the head of the class. It's also unusual in that it features painted artwork and is a labor of love from an independent creator, and that it survived the type of hiatus that usually kills a self-published book to come back stronger with the trades returning to print and a new mini-series. Heck, Smylie and Archaia Studios have even put out a call for other books to publish. The story of Artesia in terms of the comics industry is the kind of thing you can only call a comeback.
But what is the story of Artesia in terms of the comics? Well, it's based on the ignoble birth to noble end, a classic fantasy staple, as a girl born to a witch and likely to be burned at the stake becomes first a concubine, than a war captain, for a powerful empire, and finds herself moving up the ranks even further as the story progresses. It's a story of a war that sweeps across a vastly-imagined fantasy world, enveloping all cultures and making strange alliances and smacking of prophecy and history-making events. It's a story that doesn't skimp on the sex or the violence, nor on the flowery language and imaginary lands and cultures. The closest comparison I can make is to Age of Bronze, Eric Shanower's mind-bogglingly huge sweeping epic, only done with a fantasy bent instead of one based on mythology and history.
Don:
Randy's certainly touched upon the ambitious quality of the Artesia books. It's a sword-and-sorcery book that's a bit light on the sorcery most of the time. It's a war book too. The comparison to Age of Bronze is a valid one, in that Smylie also examines a somewhat alien past culture in terms of the politics of monarchies and their militaries. There's an undeniably inventive, intellectual and challenging tone to the storytelling.
Randy:
Probably the most notable thing about Artesia, at least from my point-of-view, is the artwork. Smylie's painted work shows a true study of the human form and what was used to clothe it in medieval times, and while his work started out looking good in Artesia, it has become truly polished and breathtaking by the time you reach Artesia Afire. Smylie ably handles the lush, sometimes overblown nature of Artesia's world, whether it's a borderline filthy tryst of group sex, a lavish banquet or an unimaginably large scene of battle. His characters do lack the more subtle expressions of a Michael Lark or Sean Phillips, but in terms of bombastic spectacle and realistic anatomy, Smylie never fails to deliver.
Don:
Personally, I was more taken with Smylie's artwork in the first two books than in Afire. Smylie's clearly influenced by Barry Windsor-Smith and a variety of European artists; I suspect he grew up devouring the contents of every issue of Heavy Metal he could gets his hands on. The intensity of violence and sensuality of the visual storytelling clearly points to that influence as well. The scenes featuring the sprites that visit the title character reminded me of the work of Charles Vess and P. Craig Russell as well. There's a stunning level of detail throughout the Artesia comics. Smylie's vision of this world of dark fantasy and bloodshed is well-realized and as a result, quite realistic.
I'm struck by the fact that there doesn't seem to be enough variety in cover design for this book. The prominence of the title character on each cover comes off as a little repetitive. These covers almost blend. I'd love to see Smylie experiment with different cover motifs rather than the dramatic pinup poses that seem to be the norm thus far.
Randy:
Artesia also comes equipped with a world setting that rivals the work of the most obsessive-compulsive Dungeons & Dragons player, with fully-realized cultures and a map that shows that Smylie clearly knows the history and shape of this world as well (if not better) than that of our own. The upshot of this is that Artesia feels like stepping into a foreign land, reading about border skirmishes and world wars between nations we've never heard of, and hearing about religious strife that bears little resemblance to the conflicts in our own world.
Don:
The book comes complete with snippets of languages that don't even exist (I assume), but Smylie incorporates explanations of those exchanges rather seamlessly into the script. Few of the references here seem familiar, so I'm led to believe that this entire world springs forth from Smylie's imagination. But the book also reads like it's been meticulously researched.
Randy:
The downside of this, of course, is that Artesia is sometimes maddeningly hard to follow. Smylie introduces literally dozens of characters, all of them important but not all of them given that much page time to develop. His plot is based on political maneuverings, old feuds and cultural divisions within this fictional world, but he often takes for granted that the reader understands these boundaries and histories. Even with a glossary and maps, found in each issue and in each trade, I sometimes found myself grasping only the larger structure of the story and feeling like many of the intricacies were passing me by. Artesia is a good read, but it would be much stronger if Smylie would focus more on developing his characters and explaining his conflicts rather than rushing us through them with a cast of thousands.
Don:
What I found the most unfortunate aspect of the book is that it's impossible to relate to these characters. Smylie's prose is thoroughly purple, and there just isn't much in the way of grounded elements that readers can grab onto as a thematic landmark. Smylie has brought an amazing and complicated world to life, but he fails to include a gateway into this world for his readers.
For more information about Artesia, visit
