Kaya #37 // Review
Jinn is travelling through a bitterly cold snowscape with a tall man. The man seems very driven. Jinn has his reservations, our following, but he doesn't really have much of a choice. After all, it is a particular place and it's not somewhere where he is all that familiar with. And then there's the fact that he'd be to have the man and his relationship to him. There's a certain mystery about the whole thing that he needs to explore just a little bit further in. Kaya #37. Writer/artist Wes Craig continues a long running fantasy cereal with colorist Jason Wordie.
Meanwhile, Kaya is on the run. She's in a jungle of sorts. Strange growths of vegetation serve as platforms over mist-covered mystery far below. Jumping from one patch of grants to the next would be difficult enough or not for the fact that those who are chasing her and her allies have bows and arrows. Still: as dangerous as it might be, it just might be as dangerous for the hunters as it is for the hunted. And it's only a matter of time before someone slips and things get particularly dangerous for everyone involved.
Craig has a solid pacing about the story which has served it well over the past couple of years. That patient continues into an issue which alternates between the snow and the jungle. There's a genuinely intrepid, and the contrast between the two different locations feels strong enough to create a sense of true adventure between two covers. That's not something that's easy to execute in a larger story that also involves a lot of past and politics and things of that nature. Craig manages of very tight balance between all of the different narrative elements that make it into the latest issue of the series.
Of course, two contrasting biomes wouldn't be nearly as powerful or immersive for it not for the fact that Craig is also managing a so very imagery as well. Cold clouds and condensation of breath in an midst of the snow isn't all that Craig is throwing into the wintry mix. There are robots. Metal robots, which amplify the sense of cold about everything. The inhumanity about it. Meanwhile, the mists of the jungle that Wordie is able to put into Kaya’s scenes help to lend atmosphere to sell very sharply rendered visuals that illustrate the danger without over amplifying it. So it's a well modulated kind of danger that leaves a room for more powerful moments to come later.
There is a hell of a lot of world building that's going on in the course of the series thus far. And it's really nice to see that. Made it to the page through action and interaction rather than long stretches of exposition. So often that's the case in this type of fantasy. However, everything seems to be remarkably well balanced as the series continues into its 50 year in existence. Quite an accomplishment for any indie series.
