Panya: The Mummy’s Curse #1: Chaos & Cats

Panya: The Mummy’s Curse #1 isn’t a messy or poorly executed comic. It possesses a good sense of visual storytelling, a solid setting, and competent dialogue/structure. However, the book suffers from a case of the ‘setups’. As a first issue, it lacks any excitement and features generic uses of its setting and mythology, all without being supported by an intriguing main character.

Panya, the protagonist, is a young girl witnessing the world around her change and come to an end after her father and his men aid the Pharaoh of the era in ascending towards divinity, leading to the arrival of beings with power far too immense for this world.

She spends the entire book following the story as it unfolds, devoid of any personality or agency. The major plot events proceed to play out around her, but due to a lack of depth for any of the characters in this book, including Panya, the comic is unfortunately very dull. Thematically speaking, the book explores broad ideas that fail to connect to our characters in a relatable, substantial, or convincing manner. It seems to be present simply for the sake of being there, a poor consequence of inorganic messaging.

Many of the issues mentioned about characters and story stem from a focus on establishing significant ideas and themes, rather than allowing those elements to develop naturally from the characters of the book. By prioritizing the grand narrative over character development, the comic misses an opportunity to create a more engaging and immersive experience. When the characters lack depth and agency, the overarching ideas and themes lose their impact. It’s important for a story to strike a balance between its setting and its characters, enabling them to organically interact and shape each other’s journey.

There are small, dim moments of characterization that are restrained by an art style that can convey emotion but may not necessarily capture character. What the art does accomplish is fill the book with beautiful and stylistically unique representations of Ancient Egypt, which is the highlight of this issue. The colors stand out when laid atop penciling work that’s both historically inspired yet unafraid to take creative liberties.