Sera and the Royal Stars #1: Princess of Parsa

Vault Comics delivers glorious sword & sorcery action with Sera and the Royal Stars #1 – a series that hits the ground running – hooking readers with excellent pacing and even better artwork!

When diving into an epic fantasy such as this, the reading experience can often become burdened by overly complex world building thus facilitating a lack of emotional investment in the individuals themselves. The decision to tell a character-driven story set within this fantastic world serves as the foundation for Sera and the Royal Stars, which will help the series immensely as it continues in future issues.

Sera is a relatable character who comes from a family under intense pressure and seemingly always caught up in conflict. With her mother Tara missing and presumed dead (which I still don’t believe!) and obligations of the kingdom bearing down her, the demand from Mitra makes the situation drastically more complicated. Setareh, the Capital City of Parsa,  is a fully-realized kingdom that feels both accomplished and far reaching, but Sera’s immediately recognized devotion to those around her is what makes both her relationships and eventual acceptance of her new adventure work so well.

Within the first few pages, we are introduced to this series’ vision of Mitra, based on an Indo-Iranian divinity that is often associated with covenants and even friendship. This sets the stage for the overall premise to truly take off. The mythological nature of this element in the story gives just the right amount of spectacle while also providing a welcome sense of narrative depth. The story may include some tropes we have seen before, but it puts them all to excellent use, allowing each aspect to coalesce into something satisfyingly original.

The strength of the story is derived in part from the stunning artwork all throughout the first issue. Despite a few too many simplistic backgrounds, the creative team pulls off a lot of truly enjoyable visuals from Sera’s transportation to the unseen realm to the impressive city of Setareh. Its an epic in its truest form, taking readers from one grand location to another each with their own distinct aesthetic, helping the journey to feel both expansive and dangerous. Plus it’s just gorgeous!

Overall, Sera and the Royal Stars #1 is a heartfelt character-driven epic fantasy with serious potential. It hits all the right notes for an introductory issue, giving readers a strong and relatable character to invest in, surrounded by a world thrown into dire conflict, resulting in a truly interesting book. Sera is the badass woman that the sword and sorcery genre deserves!

It seems great things are on the horizon…