It's August! But if I can squeak in one more Shaderunners comment: I've only made it as far as Act II chapter 7 page 26, but can I say how much I'm loving Pam? I really like characters like her, though they need more emotive characters to bounce off lest they just be boring. But seeing her get to be the emotional core of an arc is a treat. EDIT: Just finished up the chapter and, uh, maybe "treat" is the wrong word. My heart is sad.
With that said, on to August's pitch. This month, I'm pitching a comic about an indoctrinated princess and her adventure centering on a water-themed god! Why does this sound familiar?
Suihira: The City of Water, by Riana Dorsey, stars Princess Wahida of the kingdm of Iona. Iona is known for being the only major source of water in a vast desert created by the war between the gods of water and fire. Akia, the goddess of water, is said to have abandoned the world, but first left Iona's life-giving spring as a last gift to humanity.
Iona's duty of protecting the water and providing it to the rest of the world has been privatized by agreement with an organization called the Water Guard. I'm sure it's fine.
Wahida was raised on fairy tales about Akia and her holy city, Suihira. Wahida and her older sister, Hadima, bonded over praying to Akia. Wahida is somewhat neglected due to her parents' focus on training up Hadima to be the next ruler, while Wahida is just to be married off to solidify a political alliance. Though increasingly infrequent, these prayers to Akia seem to be nearly the only thing they can do to spend time together. When the time comes for Wahida to marry a prince who doesn't actually want the marriage any more than she does, Hadima says that the prayers to Akia were always just a game to her and it's time for Wahida to grow up and do her duty.
Wahida retreats into the depths of the palace, where Akia(?) appears to Wahida in a chamber she didn't previously know existed, which appears to be the source of Iona's water. Akia gives Wahida a mission to find Suihira, which she immediately accepts, running away from her home and family. At this time, Iona's water supply dries up. I'm sure it's fine.
To hide from her family and the water guard, Wahida takes the alias Dija, after an author believed to be the progenitor of the Suihira legend. A couple desert-dwellers named Serrin and Leo figure out who she is, and though they initially consider turning her in for the reward (in their defense, they're poor) they soon become friends and aid her in her journey to find suihira. Of course, the water guard is still after them, and all if I described all the complications that strained their relationship, I'd be giving massive spoilers. Suffice to say that Dija does not make good decisions.
In terms of content warnings, the about page says this:
Suihira: The City of Water is a fantasy drama comic recommended for ages 12+ for mild profanity, partial nudity, some violence, and intense situations.
The partial nudity refers mostly to Akia, whose human-shaped apparition resembles a naked woman whose glowing hair always conveniently covers the important bits, as well as one other god whose apparition we've seen once so far, from the waist up (he's bald). There's also a scene where Dija has to figure out how to give herself a sponge bath, which one commenter described as the least sexy shower scene ever, and which even I, somewhat of a prude, found unobjectionable.
As for violence, there's a bit of gunplay, a hostage situation or two, and some water guards implied to have been killed between pages by a tidal wave. In the desert. Weird. I'm sure it's fine.
The artwork is very easy on the eyes, with expressive and slightly cartoony characters and some gorgeous environmental work. (What can I say? I have a type.) The linework often has a looseness to it that I don't
always like, but it's nothing distracting. It's like a six or seven out of ten at worst. Here are some examples:
What I really love about this comic is the character dynamics. Dija feels so real. She's so deeply flawed, and it can be frustrating but it's so believable that she wouldn't immediately be a better person after the first time she learns something. She has to come to terms with the fact that she's hurt people she cares about and she isn't really helping to fix it, but she wants so badly and tries so hard to do the right thing even when that ends up making things worse. I love her. We're not as deep in the other characters' heads as we are in hers, but we still feel their pain and frustration over the whole situation.
I'd say the character writing is every bit on par with SSSS's. Dija reminds me a lot of Reynir, naive and desparate to be helpful but not knowing what to do and sometimes making things worse.
Is there anything I don't like? Not
exactly, but like I said, Dija can be frustrating. That's absolutely not a critique of the writing, but your mileage will vary as to whether it makes for unpleasant reading.
If that sounds like your cup of tea, then
check out the comic at suihira.com or
start reading from page 1.
