The Good
BIRTHRIGHT moves on, continuing to tell the story of Michael, who disappeared as a child, to go on a mystical journey until he was an adult. He returns home, full grown, to find that while he aged, the people on Earth didn't as much. Now, he's been interrogated by the police and has convinced his brother and father he is who he says he is.
The first thing anyone notices about this issue is how amazing artist Andrei Bressan and colorist Adriano Lucas are on this book. Seriously, from the first page to the last, these two are turned up to 11. The art is consistently beautiful and it doesn't matter if they're in the fantasy world or in the real world. It's equally amazing to look at. The second page has Michael running with bullets flying at him as he screams. It's a wonderfully startling image that has some great background work and the color all tie everything together.
As the art continues to drive this book, Joshua Williamson's pacing of both the story in the modern world and in the fantasy worlds, on their own, are wonderfully crafted. He ropes the reader in with well-crafted, emotionally driven stories that really revolve around the theme of family and how far family members are willing to go for each other, so while the main story is a lot of fun and the concept is pretty awesome, there's a lot more deeper elements to this issue and overall book that make it stand out.
While the story of Michael back in the real world has a lot more appeal, the story of how he became the warrior he is now is a bit of fun. The design of the monsters and characters has a real adventure feel to it and hearkens back to fantasy films of the 80s, giving some older readers a real sense of nostalgia and warmth.
The ending of the issue leaves the reader wondering which way this book is going to go. Who really are these people Michael is going after and how much of a hold does the entity within him truly have over the character? Each issue ends with a point that will leave the reader scratching their head and waiting in anticipation for the next chapter.
The Bad
During scenes of Michael's past, there's a ton of fantasy terminology from that world thrown at the reader, and while it's nice to see what happened to Michael during his time where he had his adventure, the jump between reality and fantasy and the added new terms to learn, felt a bit off. It was jarring for this issue and maybe it's more because of the fact that things get pretty real in this issue, with Michael taking on a group of cops firing at him, then we jump to a fantasy world. It felt a bit jarring here.
The Verdict
BIRTHRIGHT is a story for fantasy fans that want to know what happens AFTER the adventure. The art is amazing. The writing is top notch. It's a story for those who love fantasy and adventure. Williamson is on a tear over at Image and this, conceptually, is his best series as of right now. There's a lot of great books to pick from in the world of comics, but people should make this series a priority on their pull list.