Title: Dying Comes for the Toymaker Vol. 1
Revealed by: Magma Comix
Written by: Dakota Brown
Illustrated by: Ryan Cody
ISBN: 9781963547047
Ages: 18+

’Tis the season… for Mesopotamian legends.

It is a vacation story like no different. Vacation champion, Santa Claus, has a totally completely different origin story in Dying Comes for the Toymaker Vol. 1. Writer Dakota Brown weaves Christmas traditions and imagery with Mesopotamian gods, heroes, and monsters.

Not jolly previous Saint Nicholas, Santa is known warrior-king Gilgamesh, who would sacrifice something to realize his ambitions and immortality. He makes a cope with Dying to be spared. Gil will gather souls throughout his annual world trek to offer presents to youngsters who’re on his Good record.

Earlier than they had been the Toymaker and Dying, Gilgamesh and Enkidu had been pals, however centuries have steadily induced a rift between them that would decide the destiny of the gods and the world as we all know it. The ending of quantity one is full and doesn’t depart a cliffhanger. Nonetheless, with such a novel world constructing, readers will likely be excited for the following quantity.

The graphic novel is informed in flashbacks because the reader learns how Gilgamesh gained the magical parts that permit him to journey the world because the gift-giving Toymaker. He’s blessed with a material of infinity and gifted a winged boar Chimera, Huluppa, to fly via the sky. He makes use of magic river weed to show into water to enter properties. The best way the standard story of Santa Claus is interwoven with legendary warrior-king Gilgamesh and different Mesopotamian gods is intelligent and compelling.

Additionally woven into the story of the rivalry and friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu are depictions of assorted Mesopotamian gods reminiscent of Tiamat and Marduk. The query of whether or not gods ought to intervene with human lives via blessings or curses can also be explored. Battles with gods, chimera, and the winged useless maintain constant motion.

Not many tales set for the vacation season embody all-out battle sequences, this one does as Gilgamesh fights Dying and plenty of Mesopotamian gods. There’s violence, gore, sexuality, slavery, and talked about suicide.

The artwork type profitable blends Mesopotamian, fashionable, and vacation types and garments so the immortal characters seamlessly transition via time and challenges. Characters are chiseled with easy shapes akin to a Greek urn. Gods and plenty of magical creatures function horns. Muted vacation colours of crimson, inexperienced, and yellow keep a heat shade palette and proceed the nod on the vacation themes, and the deep black for shadows make the edgier tone of this graphic novel.

Dying Comes for the Toymaker Vol. 1 shouldn’t be festive, family-friendly, or a guide that results in a conventional vacation part. Nonetheless, there’s quite a lot of enjoyable and reference to the viewers by having new explanations for the acquainted parts of Santa Claus’s story. As a mature graphic novel, this title is finest for libraries with a robust grownup fantasy assortment.

For followers of the vacation, folklore, and motion mash up type present in graphic novels like Neil Gaiman’s Sandman Universe, books like Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather, and flicks like Rise of the Guardians and Purple One.