Something Epic #1: The Burden of Dreams – Spoiler Free

“Someday, you’ll have to face yourself whether you are ready or not.” 

Something Epic has such stunning artwork (more on that in a moment) that readers can lose sight of how beautifully written it is. With arresting imagery and prose that reads almost like poetry, you will be pulled in immediately – that is the point. Something Epic is Szyon Kudranski’s valentine to the power of imagination and creativity. To quote Zora Neale Hurston, “Imagination is a beautiful thing.” And… so is this book. 

Szymon Kudranski is a Polish comic book writer and artist with many mainstream credits to his name, including Batman, Spawn, and Daredevil. Kudranski’s style is gritty and noir-inspired, focusing on dark, brooding themes and intense emotions. His artwork has a moody, atmospheric quality, and his bold lines and shadows create a sense of depth and drama. His characters’ expressive, exaggerated features convey a sense of intensity and power. It’s exhilarating to see those qualities in a creator-owned work with this emotional depth. 

As a writer, artist, and colorist, Kudranski has a singular vision that works well here. In terms of technique, Kudranski employs a mix of traditional and digital tools to create his artwork. He often begins with pencil sketches and then works on top of them with ink, creating bold lines and shadows that give his images a sense of depth and texture – along with digital coloring techniques to add further dimension and atmosphere to this book. Along the way, his love of fiction is evident in a series of stunning cameos from various comics, games, and cartoons. 

TAs we age, our sense of creativity becomes intricately woven with our experience of the natural world, and, more often than not, it isn’t for the better. Combining poetry and technique makes the story of Danny Dillon, a teenage artist on a grand scale, so compelling. Keeping this as a spoiler-free review – it’s enough to say that this story is a visual metaphor for the transition from childlike creativity to the slow emotional constrictions that the real world places on us and… for a lucky few… how escapism can help us to transcend our limitations and set us free.