1st Impression: SOULFIRE # 6 (Vol. 4)

SOULFIRE # 6  (Vol. 4)
Written by JT Krul & Frank Mastromauro
Art by Giuseppe Cafaro, Mike DeBalfo & Nei Ruffino
Aspen Comics

FLIPPING THROUGH:
                It’s a BIG showdown between Oris (in Grace’s body)  and the Elemental Dragons vs  Malaikai, Benoist and the other. And the showdown has some radical repercussions.

ART:

                The art was superb this issue. Cafaro and DeBalfo do an amazing job with the pencils. Sharp detail with everyone. Great proportions with the characters. A good amount of details, including the backgrounds. And there are some panels that are poster worthy in this issue. There is a great amount of facial expressions and action that real fit the piece. The detail was definitely great; especially on the larger panels with the dragons and Oris. Any previous gripes I had about these two were washed away this issue. Ruffino’s colors deliver to the sharp pencils. The shading and tones are perfect for each scene and the overall grandeur of the book is heightened by Ruffino’s sharp and vivid colors. A great job by this team.

WRITING:
                This book continues to be entertaining. The stories are epic. The characters feel and act believable. The plot is good. And there is a sense of wonder that grips you through Krul’s writing when you read this book.  There are a lot of characters in this book but Krul juggles them all with ease. And the deepening stories  that come from this issue’s battle are both personal and profound.
                Unfortunately, there is one major problem with this issue: The pacing. The fight does take up most of the issue; I was actually expecting it to take up the entire issue and possibly a bit of next issue.  Yet, it still takes up a good chunk of it. Yet, there is a feeling, with this many characters that the battle moves far too quickly. Oris is an embodiment of Chaos (or so , we are lead to believe); And with the battle with the Dragons was great. It was just a bit too fast for me.  I enjoyed the last few pages because I was not expecting them but overall, things were moving too fast.  Otherwise, this is a solid book.

OVERALL IMPRESSION:

                Great art. Good writing. Yet, the pacing is what hurts the story and the book.

RATING:

                While the pacing does hurt the book, the art was even better than the last couple of issues. I give Soulfire # 6 an 8 out of 10.  

Princeless Vol 2-1 and 2

Jeremy Whitley's Princeless continues and we're here on TheBrokenInfinite to review it. Since we didn't review volume 2 issue 1 before this is going to review both issue 1 and issue 1 and 2. I suggest reading my review of volume 1 if you haven't already. As this review is going to assume the previous volume was read and I won't go into as much detail as I did in that review. Anyway, here we go into volume 2 of Princeless! Remember this is covering both issues 1 and 2.

Review by Jeremias de Leon

Issue 1:

Story

Adrienne and Bedelia continue on their quest and Adrienne's father starts to amp up his efforts to go after the knight he believed captured his daughter not knowing that his daughter actually freed herself. Any more and I believe I'd be spoiling it. The story in this issue moves at a brisk pace. Nothing feels like it's dragging on but it never goes too fast and the scenes don't end without leaving out anything that's important. This issue has plenty of nice action moments, not fighting, but it is action and that also helps to keep you glued to this issue and not get bored.

Verdict

You get to learn more about the people of the world that aren't from the royal family that Adrienne is a part of and it's pretty nice. Character interactions are still top notch, like in the previous volume they still act believable and a lot of the enjoyment comes from the things they say to each other on top of the action. I'll give this issue a 9 out of 10

Issue 2:

Story

This issue brings up some mysteries that are quite intriguing. Adrienne has a dream that puts her into the shoes of someone else, and something has happened to her mother but it isn't clear exactly what happened and why. We also see some fighting in this issue not just in Adrienne's dream but in the story, which help keeps things entertaining. You'll also see the king, Adrienne's father is not one to be trifled with apparently.

Verdict

This issue picks up in quite a different way than the previous one and it's a pretty good move to do that. It definitely keeps the reader entertained with having some fighting be shown. Getting backstory on the king and showing his skills is great and I'm certain will be very important down the road. Everything shown and said in Princeless is shown for a reason and with what's going on so far it seems to be a pretty good reason. The bits of mystery with the queen, Adrienne's mother and the dream she had involving the Black Knight also are done very well and definitely finish the job of hooking you in and making you want to find out what's going to happen next. I wholeheartedly give this issue a 9.5 out of 10

Princeless is still going strong and doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon, it's highly enjoyable and it's something that younger readers can enjoy just as much as older readers and that's special.

One final thing before leaving is the...

Art

In volume 2 the artist has changed and it's a noticeable difference. Unlike the previous volume where the characters seem more cartoon like, but still fantastic and charming. This volume has an artist where they are more on the side of realism with the character looking more like normally proportioned humans, but it too is still charming. Facial expressions are done magnificently and the designs of the characters still stand out with their own distinct flairs. Also each character has this, I don't quite know how to describe, this "fantasy wisp" to their look that is such a perfect style for this book.

So again volume 1 and 2 both are different but both are great.