Brath #2
Review by Dindrane
Story:
Art:

Written by Chuck Dixon
Pencils by Andrea Di Vito
Inks by John Dell
Colors by Rob Schwager
Lettered by Dave Lanphear

Published by CrossGeneration Entertainment, Inc.
Price: $2.95

My Verdict: Check it out.

This issue of Brath begins as the clans continue to war among themselves, even in the face of Roman conquest; A’dan MacDool wants to kill Brath, presumably to take over for himself, but Brath isn’t ready to lay down and die just yet. A’dan questions the validity of Brath’s fate as uniter and leader of the Ure—bringing up interesting questions in the mind of the reader about the nature of prophecy and of fate. Meanwhile, Taniella is harvesting mistletoe from the high branches of an oak, continuing her education at the hands of S’math, the druid, but a dark druid comes upon the scene and threatens Brath that unless they sacrifice precious blood, they will fail to stop the Romans, especially since the Romans are bringing monsters known as “elephants” to the fray…

The plot of Brath should charm any medievalists or fans of Celtic history. Too bad this sort of fan, myself included, is much more likely to read something only to tear apart the author, rather than to just enjoy it as a piece of literature or entertainment. This is particularly unfortunate and strange given that the Celts themselves never let piddly things like “facts” get in the way of a good history or a tall tale or a heroic quest. It isn’t about how smart you are, people, it’s about whether or not the comic moves you or entertains you, and if you give this one a chance, it can. Yes, they take some poetic license, but writers are allowed to do that. Hopefully, this sort of intellectual posturing won’t be an issue with the comic crowd and readers will be able to appreciate Brath for the historical fable it is.

The art of this title is truly quite grand. The characters don’t all look alike, as if they hatched from the same pod, the way some comic titles will do, and there are plenty of dramatic poses. A case in point: pages 2 and 3 show Brath and Mac Dool battling with long knives in the rain. The colors are nicely muted and dramatic, as are the tense poses the men are holding. Light wind whips their hair a bit, and the crowd is just waiting to see blood. Very nicely done in both subtlety and content.

In short, check this one out and keep an eye on it. It could do some very interesting things with philosophy and the ideals of war versus liberation, or peace versus compromise. We can trust CrossGen to do all they can to produce a beautiful, interesting book. We just have to do our part and wait.