By Amanda
“Eye of Newt” #1 is a new release by Dark Horse Comics in the vein of The Sword and the Stone. Writer and artist Michael Hague spins a beautifully detailed and imaginative world in which a young magician’s apprentice is training for his trials to become a full magician. The story takes place in Gloom, a forest filled with imaginary creatures, magic, and labyrinthine caves that hold either success or doom for the young hero.
Hague thrusts us into the action immediately. After a look into the apprentice’s imagination, the master magician and the narrator give a brief introduction to both the plot and the setting. The Gloom is old, mysterious, and dangerous (their adjectives, not mine). Otherwise, many of the details of the worldbuilding are left to the reader to figure out from the master’s allusions to tasks and hazards. Basically, the master and apprentice magicians travel by dragon to a cave in which the apprentice is given a magical ring for reasons unknown. Then the master must similarly fly off to an unknown task that he alone can accomplish. The apprentice is left with two magicians, who trick him into sleeping so that they can steal a book from the master.
The plot is quite involved for a first issue, and these are only some of the many problems that Hague’s master hints at. My reservations with “Eye of Newt” so far are that we do not understand what is at stake for any of the characters. We are told these bad things are coming, but we don’t quite have a feel for what that means. Hague also does not give us much of a reason to feel emotionally attached to the apprentice. The voice of the storyteller feels high above our heads, from the lofty heavens of dragons and eagles, rather than intimately centered on the young boy. I would prefer a less stereotypical approach to a wizard story, but these conventions are typical of Merlin-like stories.
Visually, “Eye of Newt” #1 is stunning. The panels are detailed and textured. The dragons have scales, the water has currents, and the netherworld is eerie with hidden skulls and insects. The thorny frames protrude into the other art. Hague chooses a wide color palette, vivid some places and muted in others. While the artwork appears similar to much high fantasy art, that’s what you bought it for. If nothing else, the issue is worth reading for the gorgeous pages alone. As Hague is primarily known for his illustration for such works as The Wizard of Oz and The Hobbit, this is not surprising.
We will continue with “Eye of Newt” to see where it goes, but are not entirely sold on the story yet.
Hague thrusts us into the action immediately. After a look into the apprentice’s imagination, the master magician and the narrator give a brief introduction to both the plot and the setting. The Gloom is old, mysterious, and dangerous (their adjectives, not mine). Otherwise, many of the details of the worldbuilding are left to the reader to figure out from the master’s allusions to tasks and hazards. Basically, the master and apprentice magicians travel by dragon to a cave in which the apprentice is given a magical ring for reasons unknown. Then the master must similarly fly off to an unknown task that he alone can accomplish. The apprentice is left with two magicians, who trick him into sleeping so that they can steal a book from the master.
The plot is quite involved for a first issue, and these are only some of the many problems that Hague’s master hints at. My reservations with “Eye of Newt” so far are that we do not understand what is at stake for any of the characters. We are told these bad things are coming, but we don’t quite have a feel for what that means. Hague also does not give us much of a reason to feel emotionally attached to the apprentice. The voice of the storyteller feels high above our heads, from the lofty heavens of dragons and eagles, rather than intimately centered on the young boy. I would prefer a less stereotypical approach to a wizard story, but these conventions are typical of Merlin-like stories.
Visually, “Eye of Newt” #1 is stunning. The panels are detailed and textured. The dragons have scales, the water has currents, and the netherworld is eerie with hidden skulls and insects. The thorny frames protrude into the other art. Hague chooses a wide color palette, vivid some places and muted in others. While the artwork appears similar to much high fantasy art, that’s what you bought it for. If nothing else, the issue is worth reading for the gorgeous pages alone. As Hague is primarily known for his illustration for such works as The Wizard of Oz and The Hobbit, this is not surprising.
We will continue with “Eye of Newt” to see where it goes, but are not entirely sold on the story yet.