Shards Volume Two : A Song For Many Voices

Shards Volume Two is an anthology composed of many diverse voices which come together, across a variety of worlds, to tell stories which are centred on the vacillations of character. Beyond the brevity of the form, there isn’t much to connect these vignettes, nevertheless the anthology forms a coherent whole. This is largely due to the fact that it is possible to tell any sort of story you like (and make it believable) so long as you combine good writing with emotional honesty. This is a daring, and very honest, book.

Shards starts off strong with Digo Salazar’s ‘Cache’. The story is a rollicking cyberpunk adventure story with a plot that is reminiscent of Ghost in the Shell – the original, not the slightly racist recent film. In it, a nameless, memory-less human-construct appeals to a mysterious woman for help seeking out the missing pieces of his past. The line-art was a little too generic for my tastes, but the figures were appropriately expressive and the story managed to strike a fine balance between action and an appealing, heartfelt tenderness. The fight scenes were well-rendered and the villain was a fully-developed character. This story worked well as a stand-alone episode, while laying the groundwork for possible future expansion.     

‘Bob & Weave’, by Gabriel Paralta and Tristan Yuvienco, struck a completely different tone. Set on an impoverished island and focusing on the development of an unlikely friendship, this story treats themes of acceptance, familial love, and the cultural conflicts which arise between the rich and the poor — even when both parties grow up in the same neighbourhood. The art is reminiscent of that found in the television show Steven Universe and the artist played up these similarities to great effect. In all honesty, the script would have benefited from an editor (there are some pacing issues) and the dialogue was a little uneven in terms of dialect, but overall this was an enjoyable story — one that was obviously told with a great deal of love.  

‘Perilous’, by Andy Niggles and Auskey, was probably the most intellectually engaging story in the anthology. The story, which features angels, devils, and a man who suffers from sudden-onset omniscience, pairs surprisingly complex theology with some startlingly thorough world-building. The result is an almost perfect hybrid of character-study and adventure story — with a fight-scene or two thrown in for good measure. The art in this story was sketchy, but appropriate for the story being developed. I would like to see ‘Perilous’ expanded into, at least, a limited series because it is pretty clear that there’s more of this to come.

‘Be A Man, Man’, by Ben Langston and Andrea Vidrine, attempted something admirably ambitious: exploring the dehumanizing effects of the prison-industrial complex. It was clear to me that the dreamlike, mixed-media effects of the art (which were unsettlingly-reminiscent of David McKean’s work in the Sandman series) was meant to emphasize the ever-increasing disconnect between the actions taken by the protagonist and his own humanity. Certainly, the effects were disconcerting. However, there was not enough contrast between the words and the page. I had difficulty reading the story. This detracted (considerably) from my appreciation of the piece, but this was possibly an effect of reading the story on my laptop, and not as a printed book.

‘The Dragon’s Kin’, by Curtis W. Clow, Liliana Vasquez Song, and Tobin Racicot, was the story that I, personally, found the most engaging. On one level it’s your basic chosen-one narrative (the stablehand turns out to be the heir of a famous lord and must set out to win their kingdom –and possibly their master’s daughter as well) but the dialogue was superb and the writer manages to turn quite a few of the reader’s expectations on their heads. For one thing, the stablehand (chosen-one) is a young, queer, woman of colour. For another, the beautiful daughter is a fearsome warrior — who still gives in to some rather unforgivable selfishness. Finally, instead of horses, everyone rides giant Kangaroos. This story deserves a series of its own. I could see this creative team doing something very special with it, were it given space to become a book.

‘Flipside’, by Danielle Rueda and Bianca Lesaca, draws the reader back into a world which is closer than our own. It traces the ups and downs of a long-term relationship and it culminates in the kind of trauma which is designed to leave the reader hungry for more. The dialogue was charming, in a deliberately quiet way, and the art was painterly and calm. When the shock comes, it hits hard and unexpectedly. Clearly, the creators intend to expand this story. Certainly there is plenty of room to grow.

All in all, this anthology collected some very promising new voices, from whom we can expect to see quite a lot more.