Written by: Dufaux
Illustrations: Grenson
Coloring: Bekaert
Publisher: Le Lombard
Niklos Koda #14 De Spiborg – Comic Book Review
While a bond between father and daughter is certainly a unique phenomenon, it’s one that is often quite strong. The Niklos Koda series revolves around a girl who is looking to bring her father back home, which sounds like a very ordinary situation, but it soon becomes rather extraordinary, when learning that her father has magic powers. Add to the equation that his daughter also has such powers and sprinkle a bit of demonical presences on top, and you have yourself a rather interesting comic book plot. We dived into issue #14, which is slowly closing the gap between daughter and father.
Seleni and Antioche have been getting rather acquainted with No Song, who is currently accompanying them on their journey. While Seleni acts like she’s interested in him and shows a certain liking towards him, it soon becomes clear it’s all for show. When they are heading towards their next destination by boat, she lets her powers manifest like never before and summons eerie corpse-like creatures from the lake, who swallow him whole. She then tells Antioche that she knew he was a traitor who had to be disposed of. When finally reaching their next stop, Oleg Longbody’s house, they learn where Niklos is headed towards, together with Aïcha, a woman now sorely hated by Seleni. Not only did Niklos visit a place that reeks of death, he is also headed towards the biggest sorcerer the world has ever seen. Seeing he owns the ‘Sixth Book’ which is also connected to the Spiborg, the demon that gave Seleni her powers, it’s clear he wants to use the powers for himself. Even though Seleni wants to find her father, it’s also clear something dark is stirring inside of her, slowly getting hold of her.
Truth be told, the flow of this issue was both rapid, as well as slow, as there is only a bit of text to be found on each page, which gives you just enough information to keep going on. While the information and overall story value of this album are rather slim, it’s still oddly captivating. Dufaux has an interesting way of drawing the reader towards the tale he is telling and we honestly don’t know how he did it. That being said, we hope the next issue will provide a bit more story value.
The illustrations by Grenson have a rather realistic air to them combined with a retro inspired comic book style. The backdrops prove to be qualitative and the overall picture is just great. The light coloring by Bekaert adds a certain lightness to the overall heavy spirited story.
Conclusion
Niklos Koda #14 De Spiborg is an interesting issue, but it feels like an intermission between the thirteenth and fifteenth issue, where things will hopefully properly kick off. Nonetheless, the issue proves to have enough action and beautiful artwork, with not that much text, to guarantee some ideal light reading during a relaxing evening.
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