(This article is brought to you by a nerdy guest contributor, Austin Carter)
Book: Translucid Issue #2: Brothers in Arms Review
Writer: Claudio Sanchez & Chondra Echert
Illustrator: Daniel Bayliss
All the pretty little horses.. Little brown ones.. Little red ones..
Finally “Translucid Issue # 2 Brothers in Arms” is here, and I can breathe a little easier now. Issue #2 is super duper awesome! Reading it, we find ourselves further discovering Cornelius Kinderlands past, and his relationship with his older brother Drake. This issue focuses much more on how the current events came to be, pretty much a flash back into the past. Not to give too much away, but when a hero is born whether it be Batman, or Spider-man, there is usually some sort of traumatic event that occurred thus creating a Superhero out of it, this is no different. This delve into the past, answers some questions, but poses many more.
The relationship between the Navigator, and the Horse is something that feels so refreshing. The Horse is smart, but so is the Navigator, this classic hero villain dynamic feels very new again, something comic fans have been craving for a very long time. Translucid will leave you wanting more, and the monthly releases are absolutely perfect for this story. After reading an issue, you have 4 weeks to let it grow, and have many questions prepared as the next issue comes along.
And can we talk about the art? Daniel Bayliss has done such a good job with Translucid. This whole trancy, I’ve locked myself in a room and dropped acid art style is so good. The world around you is shown as if the Navigator was seeing it, or the horse was seeing it, this whole weird 3rd person, 1st person perspective is so good. I find myself looking around the panels, using my imagination again. One thing that the art of Translucid does is IMMERSE you, something a lot of comics fail to do.
I wish I had Issue #3 in my hands right now, but one thing Sanchez & Echert are known for is cliffhangers, and this is no different. We need more writers that produce something so well, and crafted as the story of Translucid. There’s a fine line between hero, and villain. Translucid seems to always present many more questions than answers, which I’m very happy with. Each reader will take something different from this story, and there is much to be discussed. Is the horse as bad as he seems? Or is there more underneath that mask than we can know? Only the next 4 issues will truly answer that question. Translucid is close to perfect, and receives a 4 out of 4.