Huh, this was an interesting read to say the least. Arclight tells the story of… if I’m correct, a lady whose mind is trapped in an alien body waited upon by a genderqueer knight named Arclight. Apparently it’s a part of a larger shared universe, in which author Brandon Graham weaves poetic and delicate stories together. I, myself, am kind of torn on whether or not I liked this comic. To analyze it I’m going to have to break it down into the two most basic mediums of the comic genre: the story and the art.
Let’s start off with the story. I, like many others, found myself a little confused. I love poetic pieces, I am all for comics that rely more heavily on images than text, but here, in this strange and alien world, I feel like more textual explanation would have helped in establishing both the world and the events taking place in the volume. About half way through the comic it veered off-course, and I had no idea what was going on, and that disorientation carried on throughout the second half. However, the world that Graham has created here is phenomenal. I want to know more about the world this is set in. In particular, Graham’s magic system is so interesting and unique. In Arclight, the knights of the Blood House use their own blood to scribe runes into the air, which fuels their magic. This type of magic is unique to members of the Blood House, and other Houses within this world have their own forms of magic. The setting, the creatures, the magic, and the genderqueer society of knights was something I was left wanting more of, and because of that, I think Arclight would have been more impactful and interesting as a novel, or perhaps a more fleshed-out, longer comic series where the dialogue and prose was more carefully crafted and built up.
As for the artwork, once again Marian Churchland (From Under Mountains) has created a BEAUTIFUL book. Churchland’s soft, pastel colour pallet and curved, wispy drawing brings this world to delicate life with a tender vibrance that highlights the poetic beauty of the story. Churchland’s artistic touch fits perfectly with the, somewhat vague, but rapturing concept that Graham has created. From an artistic standpoint, this comic deserves all of the praise… it’s just too bad that Churchland’s artwork couldn’t explain some of the more confusing plot points towards the end of the volume.
So overall, I’m kind of torn. I loved the concept and the artwork, but there wasn’t much content. I feel like we got a hollow shell here, it’s painted beautifully, and well groomed, but in the end, there’s nothing inside of it.
