Under Kingdom is a new exciting modern fantasy original graphic novel with positive LGBTQ+ representation that's out now from Dark Horse Comics.
"After the sudden disappearance of his mom, high school freshman Shay is thrust into a secret world of monsters that exists underneath his small West-Virginian town of Humble Valley. With the help of his shapeshifting aunt Sa'Belle, he must search for his mother while doing what he can to safeguard the citizens of the Under Kingdom' and try to maintain his normal high school life. If that wasn't enough, Shay is a strict pacifist in a world that is demanding he go to war to protect it.
An epic adventure set in a colorful world full of mischievous sock-stealing imps, adorable dragons, rowdy orcs, and an endless variety of other strange creatures. Join Shay, Sa'belle, and friends in this heartwarming tale where kindness is proven more powerful than violence."
I got to read an advance copy of it, before interviewing writer and artist Christof and Marie for my podcast Joe Talks Comics (episode out now) and I thought it was great fun! I'm glad both are out now for people to experience for themselves.
An intriguing, compelling story and characters is paired up with awesome, stylistic artwork and lettering overflowing with energy and vibrancy in a read that left me desperate for more by the end. If you're looking for a new YA original graphic novel to check out, with a queer main character, I would recommend giving this a try.
The world-building here is so great, the many different creatures and the fleshing out of the "Under Kingdom" itself felt so exciting and unique, whilst also paying homage to lots of classic fantasy and literature monster tropes. There's even some great extras in the back that more explicitly delves into these different factions, and I loved the style of the informative "fact file" type notes peppered throughout whenever a new type of creature showed up.
As I said in the second paragraph, maybe my only "complaint" is that I want more! Which isn't a complaint at all. That's not to say the ending was unsatisfying, because it was, but there's definitely a couple threads left open for sequels, which I really hope Christof and Marie get to explore. We do talk about that in the interview, and as usual it all depends on sales! So please, please if you're at all interested in this, try it out, I would love to know what anyone else thought (whether you liked it or not) and hopefully we will be able to get some more eventually.
I hope you enjoy the episode, and the book, if you check them out!
If you want more of Joe's comic thoughts and reviews, you can find him on Twitter @JoeLovesComics and on the League of Comic Geeks also @JoeLovesComics.
You can also find his podcast on Twitter @JoeTalksComics, which you can listen to through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify, or you can click those hyperlinks directly.
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