Sparrowhawk is published by BOOM! Studios. It is written by Delilah S. Dawson with art by Matias Basla and colors by Rebecca Nalty.
First off, I have to compliment another gorgeous cover by Miguel Mercado. Seriously, just take a second to admire how pretty it is.
P.S. THIS WILL CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS FROM ISSUE 1
Sorry, but this is a review and I do try and avoid spoilers, but I kind of have to recap a little bit. So. It is what it is. Moving on. We left off issue 1 with Artemesia having just killed an Unseelie, thereby gaining just a bit of fairy magic. After all, that’s the way things are done in this realm. You have to kill other beings to gain more power and you need more power to survive, so Artemesia really doesn’t have a choice but to do it. At least, that’s what Crispin tells her. But then she meets Warren, and Warren doesn’t seem to think everything is so simple.
As Artemesia travels further into Faerie, we see more of this vibrant, terrifying world Matias Basla and Rebecca Nalty have brought to life for us, along with these quirky creatures. There is a simpleness to their design but they still stand out as their own, unique beings. I really like their names too, like “Grundlevar”. Crispin continues to be full of mystery but also he’s my favorite character so far.
Artemesia is badass and she’s definitely strong by all accounts, but Crispin is just so…sassy. And funny. Like when they are exploring this crazy, twisty, turny tree and Artemesia says she doesn’t even know which way is up, Crispin simply states “In general, your feet will point down and your head will point up”, it’s that type of sass that you can’t even fault him for because he isn’t wrong. We also now have a pretty good idea of what memory Crispin took from her when they made their initial deal.
This series is only going to be 5 issues and it seems to be moving along at a steady pace. Artemesia is learning and evolving, but this world seems like it has so much more to offer than can be expressed in 5 issues. Delilah S. Dawson continues to progress the story while introducing us to new characters and creatures, and I can’t help but find myself already wishing she had more time to do so.
OVERALL SCORE: 8.5 / 10
