Two mysterious and as yet unnamed figures playing a game. Two cities separated by a single wall, one a “beautiful white” city, the other a dark maze. A boy covered in feathers and light-boned as a bird. A mysterious dark figure who stalks the maze. Thus Feathers begins.
Jorge Corona sets up a strong, haunting atmosphere with his opening series of comments by the unnamed contestants as they comment on the new phase in their ongoing game, remarking on the characters and setting and arguing about the choices being made. Their “pieces” include a baby covered in black feathers and an old man, Gabriel, who adopts him and names him Poe. Meanwhile, inside the white city, a high-placed family talks politics and their daughter dreams of adventures. Corona’s quick introductions of the game-players and the people involved give a good sense of who these people are and what the stakes are. He also sets up a layered mystery: There is the question of who the game-players are and also the question of who the mysterious figure in black is and what his music signifies, and then there is the question of Poe—what is he? Why is he where he is?
Corona’s art is also strong: He draws Poe with a combination of vulnerability and oddness that makes it possible to root for him while also seeing why people who glimpse him from the distance run. The rest of the characters are visually distinctive with appearances that give strong indications of their personalities. The settings, too, are well-crafted, with the Maze’s dark alley’s contrasting with the white city’s stark clarity and minimalist look. Of course, stories being what they are, there is no doubt that both places are not quite what they seem.
Feathers is a solid start to what promises to be a strange and memorable tale, and I look forward to its continuation.
Feathers #1 is available now from BOOM! Studios
Author: Jorge Corona
Artist: Jorge Corona
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