The Author Immortal #2 // Review
Hector Ramirez is waking-up into some kind of nightmare. He’s not where he’s supposed to be. And he’s certainly not supposed to be tied-up or anything like that. There’s someone there who has him held captive. Someone in ancient armor carrying a sword. It would be kind of weird if it wasn’t some kind of a life-or-death situation for him in The Author Immortal #2. Writer Frank J. Barbiere continues to delve just a bit deeper into the dark fantasy world of the series with artist Morgan Beem. Though it’s pretty obvious where the story is headed, it’s kind of fun to watch it make its motions through a second issue that sets-up quite a lot for future issues.
Hector is being called a wizard. He’s not. He tells his captor as much while being threatened with a battle axe. He tells his captor that he’s not a wizard. He’s a writer...but not even that really. He’s an adjunct professor. There really isn’t any reason to kill him. Only thing is: there are vast, black inky monsters that seem to be attacking his captor in a way that almost kind of feels like it’s meant to be protecting him. He’s never seen them before in his life, so how could he possibly be summoning them? Clearly they’re attached to him in some way, though.
Barbierre works the tight fantasy of the story around a few very strong and interesting personalities. There’s a very strong sense of execution in the work that feels a bit like its trying too hard to be anything other than a casual fantasy involving someone from our world gtting lost in a sword and sorcery fantasy realm. It’s been done a lot before, but Barbierre is trying to approach it in a way that embraces some of the darker horror potential inherent in the premise. It’s a delicate walk between the familiar and the new for Barbierre.
Beem hits the page with a ragged intensity that serves the wilder end of the story. And since this is an issue that is focussed on some of the more brutal ends of a sword and sorcery fantasy adventure, the aggressively emotive artwork clearly follows the script in mood, style and form. The magic on the page may lack the kind of elegance that it might have achieved with a different approach. The inky black shadow mosters could have possessed a kind of sleekness about them with a different approach, but the stark brutality of it all feels engaging with the harshness of Beem’s work.
The story has a chance to boldly claim a bit of new ground in the modern-people-trapped-in-a fantasy world sub-genre. It also runs the risk of falling into the trap of so much of what has been rendered before in the cozy, little thematic niche. It’s something that’s been done countless times over the years and it’s really, really difficult to do in a way that’s going to feel like the right shade of sinister to really drive the horror home. It might not be satisfying in the end, but Author Immortal is definitely worth watching as Barbierre and company carve their way through a largely refreshing narrative.
