Broken Frontier

Opposing forces clash over Amandine and the powerful spellbook now in her possession. Who can she trust?

Amandine Faucon continues her attempt to escape from her mother, Medea, and locate her imprisoned father. Her only defenses against the dangerous characters pursuing her are the Grimoire, an ancient mystical tome that once belonged to her father, and Chai, an intelligent raccoon who may be hiding something. Over the course of an eventful train ride, Amandine casts a summoning spell that works in reverse, encounters the ancient cat-goddess Bast, fends off high-tech attackers, and learns a few surprising revelations about her family.

Over the past three issues, The Grimoire has joined the steadily growing ranks of all-ages fantasy series. This genre really seems to be coming into its own in the current comics market and I, for one, couldn’t be happier. Like many of its contemporaries, this book is fun and creative and evokes the sense of wonder inherent in the best fantasy stories. The Grimoire itself is an excellent storytelling tool as Amandine can use it to summon virtually any creature or entity, allowing the creative team to flex its imaginative muscles. The use of mythological characters in this issue was also a nice touch. By tapping into these ancient tales, the story brings in familiar faces and gives the writer a larger tapestry to work with. Sebastien Caisse has set up a few interesting mysteries involving Amandine’s father and Chai’s true identity as "the Lord of Masks" (whatever that means) and the story seems to be moving at a satisfying pace.

A criticism I have for the book so far is that it is written in a style that jumps around very quickly and generally throws us into the middle of things. This makes it sometimes difficult to recall who’s who and what characters are working for whom. This may be intentional in order to simulate Amandine’s own confusion over her rapidly changing status quo. Still, it makes certain moments in the story a little arcane and has me checking earlier issues to see if I missed something.

Series artist Djief has an appealing, slightly cartoony style that is especially effective when displaying his unique designs for the magical creatures. This time around we are treated to a troop of gargoyles that spring forth from dragon’s teeth and look like the demonic cousins of The Wizard of Oz’s Winged Monkeys. Djief also does a nice job conveying Amandine’s innocence and surprise as she adjusts to the changes in her life and he gives Chai a remarkable range of emotion for a non-speaking animal. Colorist Kness lends a very lush palette to the artwork that fits the mystical tone of the story well. All in all, a lovely artistic package.

Though slightly perplexing at times, The Grimoire makes up for its minor flaws with creativity and entertaining fantasy adventure.