Though it's not marked as one of Crossgen's "key issues," Sojourn #25 is without a doubt the best jumping-on point you're likely to find for this series for quite a while. Not only is it cheap (a buck), not only does it feature the start of the new writer, but the story covers some fertile and untouched ground, exploring what happened with Mordath before he was a world-conquering despot and in so doing hitting on the important history of lead protagonist Arwyn and lead antagonist Bohr. It also features a fantastic action sequence with the usual lush, spectacular artwork from Greg Land and company, and overall serves to highlight the best things about Sojourn for new and old readers alike.
One of my favorite issues of this series was the one which focused on Bohr, the troll leader who has been hunting Arwyn down mercilessly. The story focused on him going home and dealing with the death of someone close, and in that issue we saw that he wasn't just a cardboard villain, but a more rounded character whose goals just happened to contradict those of the heroine. Here, Edginton takes that idea a step further, and I was surprised at how well he made it work.
Surprised? Well, yes. Given that Arwyn's husband and child were murdered by trolls, I found it hard to believe that she would ever let a troll live if she could help it, much less let one live. But Edginton provides a perspective on Mordath, and on the troll race, that hasn't been considered before, showing that Arwyn has a fair amount in common with Bohr, and even making Mordath a mildly sympathetic character, at least before his transformation into an undead ruler. The conflict suddenly becomes less about good versus evil and a little more a matter of perception, and I liked that deepening of the central story.
The other thing that makes the brief alliance of Arwyn and Bohr believable is the circumstances under which it takes place. Credit must go to Greg Land, Jay Leisten and Justin Ponsor for doing such a great job on the vicious beasts that attack the group, because I could easily see where something that scary and deadly could force an uneasy alliance. The inspiration seems to be part dinosaur and part mythological monster, and it makes for a pretty effective design. Land also does some impressive work on flashback sequences of idyllic surroundings and the destruction of war, bringing Bohr's tale to life very effectively.
This is something of a side trip for Sojourn, as it relates only loosely to the search for the fragments that is the book's strong central plot. However, it's absolutely crucial from a character point-of-view, and it also delivers some important backstory. Perhaps most importantly, it provides an entry point into this epic fantasy tale for those who missed out on the beginning, exploring the characters and story without simply dropping the readers into the deep end of it, all without providing a story that only tells regular readers things they already knew.
