The Autumnlands, Volume 1: Tooth and Claw
The Autumnlands series, Issues 1 - 6
Kurt Busiek, illustrations by Jordie Bellaire and Benjamin Dewey
Image Comics
Fiction, YA Fantasy/Graphic Novel
Themes: Anthropomorphism, Canids, Diversity, Post-Apocalypse, Wizards
****+
Description
The young dog-wizard Dusty, born among the floating cities, looks forward to starting his official apprenticeship with his father, sailing a trading airship to many exotic lands. Perhaps the only more exciting thing is the coming conference of wizards... but this is not a normal gathering. Magic is fading, and nobody seems to know what to do about. Nobody, perhaps, except one rebellious warthog sorceress, Gharta, who proposes a risky spell: reaching back in time to find the Great Champion, the unknown hero who first opened the gates of magic centuries ago. But their efforts go terribly wrong... and, in the aftermath, what they've grabbed is something none of the animal-wizards expected, something they cannot even comprehend. This bare-skinned beast is not even a wizard - but he is a devastatingly effective warrior, and Dusty soon realizes that a warrior is just what his people need if they're going to survive.
Review
The concept for The Autumnlands - a post-apocalyptic, magic-infused future of anthropomorphic beasts - could've very easily fallen flat on its face. Here, by creating distinctive characters and cultures in a richly-detailed setting, it succeeds brilliantly. Shades of old human concepts linger into the animal world, as Dusty starts each morning praying to gods of Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, and Wildlife and Fisheries, among others. Further shades of humanity, or perhaps the simple cost of sentience, are visible in the social stratification and prejudices of this new society. Nobody is simple or stupid, making for an interesting plot and intriguing conflicts. Like the other animals, Dusty isn't sure what to think of the human Learoyd, his hero worship of the legendary Champion clashing with the reactions of his elders and his own observations of the man's often-brutal methods. I'm looking forward to seeing where this one is going.