Bonnie’s path is still uncertain, but several paths are falling away.
Creative Staff:
Story: Ryan Parrott
Art: Milos Slavkovic
Letterer: Charles Pritchett
What They Say:
While Bonnie faces off against the horror at the heart of the Endless Labyrinth, Oberon must reformulate his latest scheme and turn disappointment into triumph. The truth behind Mother Mayie is revealed in this next magical chapter.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The flow of this book has worked well for me so far as Ryan Parrott has been revealing plenty along the way and engaging in some welcome playfulness with some of its characters. I’ve had mixed luck with his works before so when one works I’m definitely drawn to it more since it can be a lot of fun. It also works well that Milos Slavkovic has some great design work for this that plays into the fairy tale side well with its own tweaks and details to make it its own thing. From the labyrinth to death via truck in the real world, we get a number of different locations and characters to work with that feel separate when needed but still part of the same overall world. And that’s a big positive.
Oberon’s still trying to determine if Bonnie is the chosen one and putting her in the labyrinth with Mayie’s help definitely was a shortcut to testing it out. Bonnie, as we see, is definitely struggling within it because she has been protected for so long and all signs do seem to point to her not actually having any sort of power set to her. She is able to fend off the best within at least a little bit, which is a big positive that Oberon encourages her with when he does rescue her, because the reality is that her parents did protect her a lot and she always felt like she was made of glass because of it. But she’s able to hold her own here and push back, giving her a kind of confidence that’s welcome. It doesn’t answer Oberon’s question as to why Titania is protecting her as much as she has but everything continues to point to his needing to figure it out in order to regain his kingdom.
While her mystery is still unsolved we do get some expansions elsewhere in the book. With Mayie looking to try and deal with her own excommunication by swiping Bonnie and using her as a way to get back in Titania’s good graces we get a look at more of her past, which ties in an intriguing way to someone well-known. Mayie wasn’t to be trusted from the start so it was welcome to flesh her out more. The other that we get is Nicholas as Bonnie asks him about his past and how he came into Oberon’s service. He’s definitely a true believer type that comes from tragedy that Oberon may have orchestrated. Nicholas’ enthusiasm is a nice bit amid the other players in the story so far while also providing someone who has some actual humanity to him thanks to his concern over Bonnie in general, though he’s still very much bonded in service to Oberon. Knowing a bit more about him definitely helps to change the way his story is colored.
In Summary:
Oberon continues to be a pretty enjoyable series and I’m looking forward to finding out more of why Bonnie has been protected as she has. Getting a little time with Titania and Laura definitely was a plus as that shows another layer of what’s been going on and what Oberon is facing in the big picture. I continue to enjoy the way he has this casual confidence and smile and the stories he relates in narration add some nice color to the book as well. Milos Slavkovic continues to have a lot of fun here with what he gets to work with and I really like the flow of it and how things are structured for the lettering and placement of it all. His take on Bonnie is a delight and he’s making me like Nicholas a lot more than I did in his first couple of more sour appearances.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: April 3rd, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
