Broken Frontier

Great comics are like great meals—both take a while to digest, and we often enjoy them more in remembrance and on reflection than during the actual experience. It’s no easy feat to pull off this sort of lasting appeal, but count Archaic as one that has. Last January, I wrote a lukewarm review of the first issue. 
However, my sense that Archaic was so completely different than anything currently offered and that writer James Abrams and artist Brett Marting have too much potential was too strong to write their story off after just one issue.

It only took one more issue for my patience to pay off. Both the writing and artwork in issues #2 and #3 are thoroughly impressive and have locked me in for the long haul.

Big picture, Archaic is a true hybrid, fusing aspects of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, mythology, and even the spy thriller into something that’s so much more than the sum of its parts. At its core is the story of a fallen family and their struggle to regain their rightful place in a fantastic world where both magic and technology outstrip anything seen in ours. On one side of the conflict, the Drakanovs, an extended family of nobles. They are the newest and most human generation of a powerful class of beings known as Sarkans. Their adversary and the “villain,” the Drakanovs’ uncle Král Groznyj.

“Groznyj has control over incredibly powerful magics,” James Abrams says, “and holds command over forces that include Nicitel (mysterious demigod-like beings), technologically altered and enhanced humans, Sarkan lords, and Lunataí (a race of wolfen Faerie creatures able to create and manipulate armor and weapons out of moonlight).” But as powerful as Groznyj is, the ultimate threat to his rule are two infants, Kosice, son of Petr Drakanov, and Erzabet, daughter of Mikal Drakanov.  

The first three issues form a prologue that introduces the warring sides, dramatizes the potentially conflicting agendas within each, while also hinting at a larger conflict that will engulf a whole world. In issue #1 Drakanc Hrad, the Drakanov ancestral home, comes under attack, Marcus, a Teardrop knight who has served the Drakanovs in war and peace, switches sides out of loyalty to Groznyj, and Petr Drakanov dies in battle.

Issue #2 finds Marcus ready to hand Petr’s wife and his infant son Kosice over to Groznyj, but then realizing the true nature of his betrayal. Meanwhile, Petr’s brother, Mikal, hangs imprisoned in a dungeon beneath Groznyj’s capital city. Marcus dies, but the infant is saved, disappearing thanks to the magical forces that protect Drakanc Hrad. Groznyj, having heard the prophecy that Petr and Mikal’s children will one day be the agents of his destruction, becomes even more intent on finding them.

Issue #3 develops the story further, first by shifting focus from the Drakanovs to Bade, a Lunatai. He’s been used by Groznyj once before to consolidate power, but now the dread tyrant wants further favors. In exchange for an even higher place in Groznyj’s new order, Bade is to use his kind’s unparalleled tracking and hunting skills to find the infants Kosice and Erzabet. Meanwhile, a band of Teardrop knights meet to discuss Petr’s son. They dispatch two knights, Velshin La Stiria and Lexine Fegriss to retrieve the child. As soon as the knights find Kosice, they’re attacked by one of Bade’s Lunatai trackers clad in glowing moonlight armor. The plot thickens when we learn that another faction has been keep watch on these events—strange, mysterious, and magical beings in exile who see the time when they can return to their former power drawing closer. 

“With Archaic, we’re trying to push the boundaries of what you’d consider traditional fantasy and sci-fi themes,” James Abrams says, “all the while setting everything against the backdrop of a dark and beautifully twisted ‘techno-magical’ world and society. We like to refer to the genre as ‘GothTech.’” Indeed, though Abrams has thus far packed 6 issues worth of narrative into 3, nimbly shifting between interwoven storylines, while balancing plot and character in a way that entices rather than spoonfeeds the reader, it’s the setting—brilliantly realized by Brett Marting—that makes the most immediate impact.

In such a short time, Archaic has the feeling of a complex, fully fleshed-out world. Issue #3 is packed with werewolves, giant babies, dastardly monks, noble knights, dark magic, and a last three pages that assault the senses like an LSD trip while also adding yet another layer to this increasingly complex story. And yet, a sense of wonder and mystery keeps everything from spinning out of control, and both the writer and artist’s true talents for suspense makes it all hang together.

And what is it all leading to? Something epic. Something grand. Something huge. Lord Of The Rings huge in terms of scale and scope, it seems. Archaic is as much about a world as it’s about a group of characters, and a narrative of this size needs commitment from both its readers and creators. With this, James Abrams is surely on board. “The initial, major story-arc will take place over twenty issues—having smaller story-arcs concluding every three or four issues within that larger tale. Then we’ll start in on another twenty issue story-arc dealing with the effects and repercussions of everything that has occurred in the first twenty issues—only from an entirely new perspective. Archaic’s story-line is mapped out in this manner all the way up to the hundredth issue.”

That’s real commitment to a big picture, and yet Abrams is developing into a writer who can knit the larger aspects of Archaic’s mythology into tight, action-packed scenes. Each issue thus far feels quite self-contained—one small seemingly complete chapter, but a chapter nonetheless—that gives the reader a sense of the size and scale towards which Abrams is building. 

It takes a certain sort of writer to pull this off, and with each issue Abrams is honing the tools and skills that will get him there. His writing displays tight pacing, solid scene structure, distinctive characterization, realistic dialogue, and an imagination and a flow of ideas that aren’t bound by the conventions of genre. And Brett Marting is no slouch either. Take a look at issue #1, Marting here laying down a fine-lined, elegant style that also has depth and texture. But ask Marting about his influences and it’s clear that he has more than just one trick in his bag. “I have been influenced by every artist I have seen,” he says. “As far as comic artists go I am a huge fan of Mignola, Jae Lee . . . and though my work doesn’t bear any real similarities, I would have to say Jim Lee made me want to be a comic artist. And then there’s Alfons Mucha, Gustave Klimt, Egon Schiele, Aubrey Beardsley. They were masters of line quality and positive/negative space.”

Issue #2 further develops that elegance of line, that balance of positive and negative space, while also injecting a darker, more brooding tone that compliments the script. And issue #3 sees yet another gear shift, towards a heavy-lined, more impressionistic look that evokes a sense of trepidation and even terror before all Hell breaks loose in terms of color and form on the final pages.

The three issues released thus far are only the beginning. Abrams and Marting have much more in store for readers:

“[With issue #4]  we leap ahead fifteen years for another three issue story-arc that concentrates upon Kosice Drakanov and the various forces attempting to gain control over him as he’s awakened to his power. Issues seven through nine then show us what’s been happening with Erzabet Drakanov, and how she contrasts with Kosice in both her manner and the use of her rather horrific powers. Throughout all of this, the main conflict of the Drakanov cousins rising against King Groznyj is made apparent—with massive battles, a ‘techno-religion,’ exciting new characters, wicked demons, and a giant baby sprinkled in for good measure. 

“By the tenth issue, major character developments will have happened—with a very important character revealing herself to be something entirely different than what she appears, and a threat to everyone.

“By the twentieth issue, the characters and the world of Archaic will have undergone massive changes—as Groznyj finally attempts his master plan amidst one of the craziest battles in comic books.  I’m really excited about where the book is headed. Brett’s art keeps getting better with each issue.”

Abrams also notes that characters will die and change. “With Archaic, the reader will get rich and darkly beautiful art illustrating an engaging story on a truly epic scope. In a market dominated by a fair amount of ‘So-n-so vs. Yadda-yadda’ and the constant recreating or resetting of entire mythologies and realities, we wish to offer something that’s deeper and different—yet still approachable and fun to read.”

I couldn’t have put it better if I tried.

Archaic #4 will be released in July. More information can be found at www.archaiccomic.com.