Folklords #1 - Boom! Studios
Written by Matt Kindt
Art by Matt Smith
Colors by Chris O'Halloran
Letters by Jim Campbell
Did you ever go on a journey of self discovery? Sometimes those are literal, sometimes more figurative. Everyone takes a different path to find out who they are and what they should be. What happens when someone tries to choose that path for you, even if you know in your heart what you want? Matt Kindt takes on on such a quest in the first issue of Folklords.
The story follows a young man named Ansel, who is just different. Sure he has his friends in his village, but he marches to the beat of his own drum. In this village, when you reach a certain age, you choose a quest to go on and it's supposed to show you happiness and your path in life. Problem is, the quest that Ansel wants to choose could cause some big trouble. There is a much deeper reason for his choice that we find out over the course of the story. We might even know exactly what he's looking for, and that is part of the intrigue of this story. He finds out just how dangerous his choice of quest might be during a ceremony in the village. When the governing body of the village, The Librarians, make a controvertial decision about the quests, Ansel decides to take action. The final pages of the first issue are just the beginning of what's to come.
What's great about this story right away is Ansel's infectious sense of adventure. His curiosity and determination make the story very easy to enjoy and give you someone to root for right away. There are also a couple of underlying themes at work here, to go along with that. It feels like this story will deal with "content versus living", if that makes sense. Why settle? We also have the mysterious and overbearing Librarians who try to keep everything under their control. It actually reminded me a lot of The Peacekeepers from The Hunger Games, just less intense. Sprinkle in some Narnia and Lord of the Rings, and that's how I felt about Folklords. Matt Smith's art really adds a lot of charm to a story that is already brimming with it. There is a vibrancy there as well that really helps bring out the embodiment of Ansel's character. I expected to enjoy this book, but I didn't expect to love it so much that I need that next issue in my hands right now. Maybe one of Matt Kindt's best offerings in recent memory.
RATING: PULL / BUY