STARHENGE, BOOK ONE: THE DRAGON & THE BOAR #6 : What’s In a Name…

If you of a certain age you’ll remember the cliffhanger endings of your favorite serial tv series. Where something super dramatic happens but before you find out exactly what, the dramatic duh duh duuuuuuh plays and the credits come up and you are so keyed up you can’t stop thinking about it or wait to find out what’s next. Well Issue 6 of this series which is the conclusion of book one of the series is very much like that. It’s absolutely packed with drama from Sharp as he ties the entire arc of the first book back to the very first issue. Along the way we learn why the Knights of Veldt no longer exist, what Amber’s direct connection to Merlin really is and a bit more of the fate of the fallen Ur-Queen (which leads to a marvelous tease which we will talk about just now).  It’s a wonderful meandering issue which sketches out a healthy chunk of detail as Sharp fills in the blanks about Darryl (Kushim Sal)  firmly places Amber in the center of it all  with a double connection to both Merlin and the Ur-Queen and mixes in another historical figure in the form of 6th century poet and bard Taliesin.

Sharp’s brilliant melding together of the classic legend and his own sci-fi fantasy elements sell the very epic and more grandiose elements of the story through Sharp’s beautiful and powerfully evocative art style which blends the classic and added elements of his story together. There are swords, muscles, killer robots and Arthurian drama galore here. Heavy dark clouds, evil queens wiping out magical creatures, monolithic castles, heads on pikes, come at you across beautifully painted style pages. All of that alone makes this book remarkable but Sharp isn’t content to just leave it at that and the second layer he adds to his storytelling which is present throughout the series elevates it to the next level. The human connection. All through this series Amber has been that connection, without her everything else would still be very dramatic and beautiful but somewhat cold and abstract. Sharp uses modern language and her character voice to smartly connect you the reader to these grandiose events and mythical characters on the page. She fangirls, she breaks the fourth wall multiple times to directly address the reader and she does the most important thing in the story: she drives home the difference between humans (no matter how legendary or changed) and the machines they are facing off against through her expression of emotion for all things around her and in this issue specifically in her love for her parents.

Sharp once again enlists the services of Matylda McCormack-Sharp in  cartoon diary like pages to examine Amber’s past and her relationship with her parents and the love of parents for their children. You would think this shift in visuals to be jarring but it is not. It works remarkably well in bringing the story elements together. Yes this is a science fiction fantasy story using Arthurian legend but it has a very human heart and that makes all the difference.

Issue after issue, sharp continues to demonstrate the power of his understanding of visual storytelling, from layouts to paneling to lettering, every element fits. I felt this last issue in particular captured the feel of Arthurian storybook in it’s layout, it’s elements like that in conjunction with everything else that have made this series such a beautiful visual feast and this issue is no exception.

The issue also teases Sharp’s next project, an OGN, in the STARHENGE universe ehich will explore the fate of the fallen Ur-Queen and that should at least provide a balm while we wait in heavy anticipation for book two of the series!