Birthright, Vol. 1: Homecoming

Created and written by Joshua Williamson (Nailbiter, Ghosted), Birthright is something rather different in the high-fantasy hero genre. Volume 1: Homecoming collects the first five issues.The set-up alone will hook you to begin with: in a field near some woods, a young boy named Mikey is playing catch with his dad on his birthday while his mother and older brother, Brennan, are preparing a surprise birthday party for him back at the house. The ball goes into the woods and Mikey goes after it... and doesn't come back. A search is organized but turns up nothing. Months pass, accusations fly, suspicions about his father grow rampant, the family falls apart. And then, a year later, the family is summoned to the police station because a strange man - fully grown, powerfully built, with long dark hair and a beard and wearing tattoos and armor of all things - has turned up claiming to be their lost son. It's outrageous and impossible, but the father is immediately sure: "That's him. That's our son. Mikey." And that's just in the first 15 pages.And that's just the set-up. As things unfold, it's clear that even though it's only a year in our world, it's been many years where Mikey had been, and he has a lot of stories to tell. But lest you think you've seen this before, let me assure you that you haven't. I can't say much as I don't want to spoil anything or give anything away. As fantastic as the stories Mikey relates are, there are unexpected twists and turns ahead and it gradually becomes clear that Mikey isn't telling everything, not by a long shot. And there are some things that even Mikey doesn't know, at least one of which is going to come as a big surprise to him.It's not giving anything away though to say that the action in Birthright shifts back and forth between current-day Earth that Mikey has returned to and flashbacks to Terrenos - "the meanest land in all creation" - the place where he apparently spent the last what have been for him twenty years of his life. The place he was transported to in order to become a long prophesied hero. But what keeps everything fresh is the complexity of the characters and their situations. Things start out relatively simple but quickly grow more and more complex, with layers of subtlety revealed that leave you wondering just where the lines are _really_ drawn and how much a character can bend without breaking.The artwork by Anderi Bressan (Nailbiter, Suicide Squad, Green Lantern) is both vivid and detailed, and the expressiveness that Bressan lends to the characters' facial expressions and body language gives an added layer of depth to what is brought out in the dialogue.Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys high sword & sorcery fantasy with complex characters and something extra that lets it stand out from the rest.

I was recommended this series by a friend who listened to me speak on Arthurian-like tales and properly written chosen one stories. I was not disappointed upon picking Birthright up, a fantastic tale about the dangers of being a chosen one is explored well.

Birthright starts off with a great idea, and then goes off in a number of directions, some good, some suspect. The artwork is universally great, and so is most of the dialogue. The way the plot is set up, this can either be really good or turn into a trainwreck.Our story begins with a father and son playing catch in the woods. When son Mikey runs after the ball, he never comes back. After a year of being a missing person's case, Mikey returns, years old armed with medieval weapons. He claims to have been sucked into fantasy world, destined to kill the evil overlord of the world. Now he's returned successful, needing to kill 5 escapees to our world before they can destroy it.As I said, the art is unquestionably great. The characters are also good for a first volume. While none other than Mikey is given a lot of spotlight, they have a fair amount of depth for five issues. The mother, however, needs some work, as she gets hit with some of the series plotting issues.Right, so the first problem I have is that it's weird anyone doubts Mikey's story by issue three. Sure, it should be impossible, but let's just say he sells it. Second, the series does try to spend about 1/3 of it's time on Mikey's adventures in Terrenos, the fantasy world. These are fine, but since Mikey surviving is a foregone conclusion, they aren't as dramatic as they could be.In all, I like this volume, and I am cautiously optimistic that it can stay good. I'll let you know once I read Vol. 2.

I bought this based on the excellent artwork and the good reviews. I'm so glad I did! I absolutely love it. It's very well-written, and the characters are complex and interesting. There's a great sense of tension and it's thoroughly engaging.The artwork is beautiful. I love the style, I love how it's inked, I love the colors. The artist really puts a lot into every page. Most graphic novels series use a great artist for the first one and then switch to an inexpensive crappy art. I'm so happy to find that this is the artist for the second graphic novel in this series, and hope he remains for the rest of the story, which I am very excited to read.The second book is awesome, too. It's one of my favorite new series, alongside Wayward and Saga. I'd say it's the best new series I've read since Fables.

This is an awesome book! Very well written. Art is gorgeous. I just gotten into comics and this is the first series that I am totally hooked on. Bought all 3 trade paperbacks and now the series is in my pull list. It just pains me that I have to wait monthly to know what happens next. Oh the cliffhanger is painful lol.Read the first few pages on the amazon preview. If you like the basic premise then you will like it even more once you get caught up. It adds layers to the story gradually making the adventure more epic every time. Highly recommend

This has became one of my favorite comics. Really enjoyed it, and I thought it was a creative, unique take on high fantasy. Beautiful art, great use of colors, interesting character designs, and cool fantasy environments. I was hesitant to get this, as I've read some other stuff by Williamson and didn't care much for it, but I enjoyed his writing in this book. Good dialogue, good plotting and pacing, and he made the characters interesting.I recommend this for fans of high fantasy, whether you like comics or not. Anyone who likes fantasy comics should definitely pick this up.

História que pega uma série de clichês das histórias do mundo de fantasia, garoto escolhido, guerreiro salvador, entidade maligna e tudo mais que gira em torno do tema e coloca tudo isso no nosso mundo, na nossa realidade.

Nice little book. Worth a read and really like the author

Great introduction to a series that impressed me from the first page. Colour pallet and use of black makes the pages pop. The idea of a boy coming back to his family after being lost to a mysterious land full of wonder and much more evil than you can imagine is a welcomed edition to my graphic novel library. Emerson yourself in Birthright and you will not be sorry. The second book is just as good. Pick them both up at once as you will be remiss to have to wait to open the pages of number two.

A great read I've fell for, from the minute I saw the first few pages at Paris Comic Con, I knew this would be my thing. This one came in mint condich'. For fans of Mighty Max, Jumanji, get your hands on this jewel.

One year after young Mikey mysteriously has disappeared during a ball game with his father in the park his family is on the brink of falling apart. And then a mysterious adult Conan-lookalike is captured by the police and claims to be Mikey having spent half a lifetime in a parallel universe fighting and eventually bringing down a powerful tyrant. And now he has to save this world too.His supposed family, mother, father and (former) older brother react very differently. Wendy refuses to believe, Aaron just wants to redeem his failure and Brennan is the one who has the most differentiated approach to the situation just going along with it.And actually nothing is as it seems. Williamson’s approach very subtly interweaves the story going on with flashbacks to the time before the disappearing and to Mikey’s early time in the parallel world. The whole story is about family and about deconstructing classic tropes of fantasy literature. Surprises guaranteed.Andrei Bressan – an artist I have not been familiar with until reading this – delivers great art and finds an astounding balance between realism and fantasy feeling. Very promising, but before all you just want to know how the story goes on.The only complaint I have is that Image did not reprint the beautiful covers of the original single issues. So collectors might prefer to hunt those down.This collection contains #1-5 of the ongoing series and is recommended anyway.