It’s a mining town in Pennsylvania, but there is a lot more to life underground than what we might expect. Elves, dwarves, restless teens out for a skinny dip, and all sorts of murderous bumps and grinds in every gear.
Scout Comics’ amazing White Ash returns for a second season, with Charlie Stickney writing and Conor Hughes illustrating and lettering. This is a superb combo, each working in tandem to produce a smooth flowing, ultra-dramatic tale. I can’t say enough good things about the art, the look of the characters, the viewpoints of the scenes, the visual pacing, and smooth transitions between panels… but let’s have a capsule description of the issue, shall we?
Alex, having just found out that he comes from a family of dwarves, has a secret woodland date lined up with Lillian, an elf. But it ain’t a fairy tale rendezvous, as they are being watched. Meanwhile, murders are occurring at an alarming rate.
We the reader might start off in the early pages of this issue becoming reacquainted with the situation: the town, the turf wars, the generations-old conflicts, the flirtations and frustrations of the characters. But there is a dark pulse beneath the book, and the story is told so seamlessly, the artwork fluid and intuitively leading us from sunlight to pitch-black terror. When you catch the drift and understand the cast, you really appreciate the narrative.
The colouring by Fin Cramb fills our eyes with vibrant colour, and altogether, White Ash is not a mere whitewash of danger and soapy drama, but a compelling, ever-spinning web of comic adventure. For the full urban fantasy back story, pick up the White Ash trade volume 1, which collects the first six issues!
Scout Comics, White Ash, Season 2, #1. $4.99 for 44 pages of content. Assume Teen +
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