Written by: Dufaux
Illustrations: Tillier
Coloring: Tillier
Publisher: Dargaud
De Klaagzang van de verloren Gewesten: De Heksen #1 Blackhead – Comic Book Review
When we think of witches, it’s quite strange they were often so feared in the past, as the women burned at the stakes were often mere ‘healers’ of sorts, rather than actual ‘doom bringers’ with spells and potions. In our current society, one might argue that people do not get portrayed as witches anymore, except for story material in books, series and movies. We’ve even seen many good witches who stand for justice and the protection of the weak. This brings us to yet another interesting story about witches, magic, honor and birthright, namely Blackhead, the first album of De Heksen cycle of De Klaagzang van de verloren Gewesten series. We’ll see what’s at stake in this first issue.
When Vivien received the task of bringing an amulet to the king, he never suspected this would be a dangerous task. He did not know why he had to go, or what the amulet even stood for. Nonetheless, there he was, murdered by his own servant, at least until a lovely young lady dragged his body from the lake. The young lady Ceylan was the descendant of a witch, a good witch that is, and thus, like in a fairytale she kissed her prince charming and resurrected the fallen boy. It seemed after he came to his senses, the two would slowly get closer to one another.
In the meantime, king Brendam, who Vivien was supposed to visit, leads a rather unhappy life, as he is being tormented by his wife Jamaniël and his annoying son Elgar. For some reason the king is always enraged by the two, hoping he never had wed the woman and that she had never given birth to his son, who is seemingly enveloped by darkness. Even though he only feels like they are evil, he is far from wrong, seeing his wife is also into witchcraft, but not the good kind. Together with her son she plots against the king, and it seems Vivien is an unwelcome guest in their plans.
The first issue is rather vague about what is actually going on, as it’s clearly slowly introducing the background, as well as the characters. Due to this, things shift from one place to another, making it hard to follow what’s going on at times. Nonetheless, there are enough events that make you wonder what will start to unravel in the next issue of this cycle.
There are still a lot of directions in which the story can head. Dufaux does a great job in arousing suspense and questions on what will happen in the following issue by keeping things rather vague. Although in a certain sense this is rather pleasant and exciting, on the other hands it’s also confusing. Nonetheless, the overall setup is nicely done.
Illustrations were handled by Tillier in a superb fashion. Not only do the drawings look ‘older’ due to the style used, making them perfect for the time period the books are set in, but everything is very detailed. It might not do the album proper justice, but some things are reminiscent to older church stain glass windows, when it comes to overall atmosphere, but a lot more detailed. The overall ruggedness of things suits the rather grim and dark setting, as well as the usage of shadows and bland colors.
Conclusion
De Klaagzang van de verloren Gewesten: De Heksen #1 Blackhead is a nice start of a new cycle of the series. Nonetheless, things are still a bit vague and the story can either turn out very exciting in the following issue, or head in a very predictable direction. Nonetheless, the atmosphere is amazing, the vaguely sketched plot interesting, and the characters are also quite likeable.
De Klaagzang van de verloren Gewesten: De Heksen #1 Blackhead - Comic Book Review,
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