The journey continues its twisted turns.
Creative Staff:
Story/Art: Gene Ha
Color Assistance: Wesley Hartman
What They Say:
Cornered by an evil duke, Mae and Abbie are desperate to escape and rescue their father. But it’s out of the frying pan and into the fire as Mae starts to learn more about Abbie’s past in this fantasy world that once hailed her as a hero.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Mae as a series has quickly introduced to us a lot of interesting aspects with this world that Abbie has been a part of for years and has now thrust Mae herself into. Gene Ha likely has a big picture idea in mind of how the world is setup and the various power structures that exist but it’s teased out in small and almost confusing pieces so far, which makes it easy for us to feel how Mae is feeling through much of this. She’s being introduced to so much and Abbie isn’t really explaining much of it, though she brings out a few things on the fly as they make their way through events. That’s a standard storytelling technique and it works well enough here, though I continue to get the feeling that reading this (hopefully) a few years down the line will reveal something really engaging that connects in a big way.
Abbie’s attempts at finding out where their father is has certainly gone in a more blunt way than she likely expected, and far more than Mae expect, so seeing the confrontation play out with the three dukes as it does is almost comical. But what we see really playing out here is that she’s revealing some things to the assorted nobles and the like at the party that they shouldn’t know, such as that there’s at least one portal back to Earth that may not be controlled. And that’s starting to grow some ideas from a couple of them about how they can reclaim their power here and there through it, which is definitely a frightening idea. Abbie’s approach is intense to be sure but what we get out of it beyond that is that things she thought were happening simply aren’t, and that there’s a far greater fracture in power in Zemetrasi than she believed existed since she left.
Mae, for her part, seems to keep stumbling into things that helps but serves to unlock future problems that will be coming as well. Her brief flirtation with local science helps her and Abbie escape but it opens far more questions with the devices involved. It’s that whole science looks like magic if you don’t know better thing but it paints a huge target on Mae since she seems to be able to activate things that others have not. It’s chaotic and crazy, which is definitely engaging and fun, and I love seeing how excited Abbie is by it all once they’re away for the moment and then getting some older sister Mae griping about how badly it played out and how dangerous everything was because Abbie didn’t stick to the plan. True, Abbie has a whole lot of experience in this world, but from Mae’s eyes – and ours – she’s coming across as incredibly reckless.
In Summary:
Mae as a series is still something that’s definitely intriguing and I want to know more about it but I also have that feeling where I wish it was a novel. Just having a couple of pages of maps or even a breakdown of the power structure on this world would go a long way towards cementing certain things and giving the reader a little more concrete feeling about the world. That said, it is fun to watch Abbie pushing things as she does and to see Mae stumble into some lucky situations while also having her going all big sister on her about the recklessness later. Gene Ha knows what he’s doing and it shows with some great pages and designs but I continue to lean toward collected volumes likely coming across a lot more cohesive in the end.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 28th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
