Broken Frontier

Good comics ripen with age, and webcomics are certainly a poster child for this. When Sarah Ellerton’s The Phoenix Requiem started up, it was a fantastic-looking online graphic novel moving at a snail’s pace. When I left it to a run a couple monthly reviews during the summer, The Phoenix Requiem had vastly improved with the addition of the enigmatic Jonas Faulkner, a comatose man found at the story’s beginning.

What a difference three months makes. The interaction and dialogue is buzzing at every turn. The chemistry between Jonas and nurse Anya is refreshing, and sends further ripples throughout the rest of the small cast, consisting of the spunky Petria Grey as well as the brooding ex-soldier Robyn Hart. The mystery surrounding Jonas remains palpable as ever, as the line between unorthodox methods and madness grows thinner and thinner.

The art has improved, especially in regards to the characters’ postures and faces. They are more loose and lucid, and as a result, that much more expressive. The character designs are also more animated, especially with the changing of the seasons and a few more additions to the cast, in particular the shadowy investigator Patrick Armand, now on Jonas’ trail. The shading and general artistic style of the webcomic has already improved greatly as the strips progressed.

The mythology of The Phoenix Requiem has also deepened significantly, especially after a woodland encounter with a spirit and word of demons at work spreading throughout the town. Many characters find themselves in set in a Victorian-style conflict, between faith in science and faith in the supernatural. The sensibilities of the time – even in a fictional fantasy world – consistently govern the actions of the cast to a variety of conclusions. The insurgence of a mysterious plague further excites the actions of the character, especially then the presence of both the spirits and Jonas are somehow all connected.

Ultimately, The Phoenix Requiem is a very full and well-rounded work. The characters feel not only deep enough but alive enough to engage the audience on a regular basis. Combined with both Victorian sensibilities as well as small town paranoia, this webcomic forms a vibrant portrait of four friends drawn together by circumstances and inward by their beliefs and personalities. Easily one of the best webcomics to date, The Phoenix Requiem has come a long way from its slow yet solid roots, and I can only hope its continued improvement will take it in even better directions in the future of this original storyline.