Review: Goblin volume II – The Wolf and the Well
by Eric Grissom and Will Perkins
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Pub Date: 17-July-2024
This review is courtesy of the creators for an honest opinion in exchange for early reading access.
Publisher Summary:
What would you give up to protect the one you loved? Uncover the mystery in the thrilling sequel to the fantasy adventure graphic novel Goblin.
One dark and stormy night, Rikt meets a mysterious fortune teller in the woods. Looking into his future, she foresees that his best friend and only companion, a wolf named Fish-breath, is in mortal danger. Overcome with the fear of losing his four-legged friend, Rikt trades the freedom of the wild for the protection of Underwood–a boarding school for monster children and a sanctuary for wolves. Was his bargain worth the price? And what terrible fate awaits the children who live there? The Wolf and the Well is perfect for fans of fantasy adventure graphic novels like Amulet, Lightfall, and City of Dragons.
After losing his parents, Rikt struggles with a fear of being alone. The anxiety becomes unbearable when he receives three prophecies from a mysterious witch, one of which foretells a terrible fate for his best friend, a wolf named Fish-breath. After the first two prophecies prove true, Rikt meets Ms. Evelyn, a friendly human who offers them protection at Underwood, her boarding school for monstrous creatures and wayward wolves. Rikt soon learns things at Underwood are not what they seem and suspects the other children are in danger. With the help of a servant troll girl and a neurotic faun, Rikt must uncover the mystery of Underwood before he learns first-hand what horrors await at the bottom of an ancient well.
Review:
I finished my press preview of Goblin volume 2: The Wolf and The Well by Eric Grissom and Will Perkins from Dark Horse Comics. They are two of my favorite people in comics and basically in general. They’re good people. Like, the kind of people you’d want in your bunker when the world ends just to be around kindness. If you saw Don’t Look Up! and recall the family sitting around the dinner table scene, that’s what I mean.
This sequel to volume one is incredible. They’re a team that shows a reader they understand each other. Will’s visual storytelling is expressive and dynamic. All the characters, including Fish-Breath and the other wolves, go through a wide spectrum of emotions. It’s perfectly clear what they’re feeling in each panel. The colors are beautiful giving light to the magical elements and moving everyone from drastically different light sources throughout. All the wolves are uniquely identifiable as well.
Eric’s storytelling impresses me every time. He’s the type of creator (who also knows art) that makes me jealous but in a good way—in the way where I’m so happy to root for him and his successes as best as I can. I also wish I were that good.
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Here are some preview pages including a few in sequence so you can fall in love with it right now!
Publication Date: July 17, 2024
Format: FC, 280 pages; TPB; 6″ x 9″
Price: $19.99
Age range: 8+
ISBN-10: 1-50673-869-9
ISBN-13: 978-1-50673-869-7
Summary:
You don’t want to miss this beautifully evocative journey of friends who couldn’t be more different from each other. Rikt and Fish-Breath meet new friends and new enemies. Both teach them valuable lessons about trusting your instincts, believing in each other, temptation, and the toll of separation.
Rating: 5 stars
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Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.