Savage Hearts #1: A Jungle Fantasy Romcom

Our warriors three, Bronwyn, Pheaux, and Fo, are on the trail of evil sorcerer, Tretch, who’s minions are terrorizing the jungle. While on their quest, the hero of our story, Graow, sees Bronwyn, and it’s love at first sight. Graow hatches a plan to win his lady’s heart not knowing that her heart is broken. Mix in some grabbers, dinosaurs, and talking birds and enjoy the fun.

The Words

Starting immediately on page one, our characters are easily defined by the dialogue in the comic. What I liked even more is that the characters didn’t always fall into the stereotypes we’d expect. Bronwyn may be our bruiser barbarian, but she’s no fool. Graow’s love-struck and not completely on the level with her (although he does a great job fooling her companions Pheaux and Fo).

The Art

The cartoon style of Jed Doughterty is simply a blast. There’s an energy to every panel, and the character’s facial expressions are extremely good. The character’s designs are all unique. You won’t confuse one character for another. There’s a b-story about Bronwyn’s past that’s illustrated for us through several background visuals. Those visuals are all colored in monotones, and it works. You instinctively know you’re looking at a quick flashback. Color also shows us internal, character emotions.

Between the Panels

The page layouts are very solid. The thing I enjoyed most was the large panel shots of all our primary characters, Bronwyn, Graow, Tretch, the High Priestess of Fruxia and her boy toy. Much like the colors, the panel borders are also used to emphasize those essential flashback beats. Adding to the visuals are the letters by Esposito. We get JLI style laughs, and character specific speech balloons. It makes for a very professional package from cover to cover.

Themes

Love. Is there a bigger and better theme than love? Love lost, love at first site, love of married partners. Mix in a little lust and sassiness, and Savage Hearts #1 definitely has a great theme to play with that will provide many angles and storylines to build a world around.

World Building

Premiere issues are all about world building as we are introduced to new characters, new places, and new situations. In Savage Hearts #1, we have an eclectic mix of barbarians, satyrs, humans, talking birds and dinosaurs. We’re treated to a visual feast of villages, jungles, and temples. Plus there’s magic in the form of Soul-cleave, our barbarian’s mighty axe, and the mysterious Fruxia Orb.

Who’s in this Issue

• Bronwyn – our barbarian
• Graow – lonely beastman
• Pheaux – husband
• Fo – wife
• Lord Tretch – evil sorcerer
• High Priestess of Fruxia

Favorite Quote

“My most capable cantaloupe! I knew it from the instant we met!” Graow

Who will like it?

• Fans of the sillier episodes of Hercules or Xena will really enjoy Savage Hearts #1. There’s a thread of humor throughout the story that reminds me of those television shows.
• If you enjoy romcoms, from children’s afternoon cartoons to feature length movies, you’ll like Savage Hearts #1. It has all the elements you want to see.

Back-up Feature

There’s also an unrelated back-up feature, No Kings Masters, also written by Aubrey Sitterson. Illustrated by Goran Gligovic. It’s a take on the Robin Hood legend. Expect all your favorite Robin Hood characters in this introduction to the tale.