From the co-creator of Powers Michael Avon Oeming comes a new anthropomorphic fantasy series – William of Newbury. William of Newbury is a neurotic monk, fearful of the earthly world, but confident and unwavering in the face of true evil. He fights the dead to restore peace, but his brother is intent on stopping him, fearing for his soul. Newbury is dark, yet quaint, deadly yet cute. Follow him as he negotiates with thieves, evades his brother and the church, and battles the undead and evil spirits.
Inspired by real events in 12th century England, William of Newbury is set during a time of plague, civil war and demons. Given this subject matter, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this is going to be a grim piece of storytelling. But Oeming does away with these expectations, primarily through portraying his characters as anthropomorphic animals. But more importantly, he gives readers a complex leading character in the form of William. William runs the gamut of being a coward who is overly afraid of the smallest things but will become a fearless warrior when it comes to defeating evil and protecting his faith. He certainly stands apart from the more stoic and heroic leading characters that typically appear in these types of stories.
The historical setting also affords Oeming the opportunity to explore both the political and religious situations at the time. Whilst there are some liberties taken with the general history; the series definitely has an authentic feel. With disease running rampant and civil war brewing, there is a lot for Oeming to sink his teeth into. William’s faith as a devout monk in a society that has religion and the economy intertwined leads to some interesting themes.
Oeming is a creator who packs a ton of charm into his work whether it’s a crime drama or a superhero comic. This latest work is no exception – particularly in the art department. The characters being depicted as anthropomorphic animals gives the story a light-hearted feel despite the rather conflict-ridden period of history that the series takes place in. Oeming’s art and storytelling will remind readers of the likes of Mike Mignola and Skottie Young which strongly works in the series’ favour.
This is a fun historical comic that is packed with imagination. Oeming has managed to give a quite serious time in history a level of charm that will take many surprise.
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The acclaimed creative team from Daredevil and Scarlet reunite for a new series that sees the creation of a new brand of criminal in Masterpiece. Emma is a brilliant and driven 16-year-old. She has paid for school with her next level inventions and is well-known for her funny and honest webcomics. Then, one day, one of the most famous billionaires on the planet confronts her with the truth about her world. Emma discovers she is the only daughter of two of the greatest, most charismatic master criminals of all time. Her parents were the authors of the greatest casino robbery of all time, the greatest museum heist of all time, AND they took the world’s most famous billionaire for a cool billion… before they disappeared never to be seen or heard from again. Ghosts. Zero Preston is the greedy billionaire her parents brilliantly ripped off before they disappeared. He has been looking for payback for years. He finds Emma… who clearly does not have his money.
Both Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev are top comic creators in their own right with several fantastic comics to their names. As collaborators though, they have a proven track record having produced some of the most memorable comics of the modern era. Their Eisner winning run on Daredevil is highly regarded by fans of the character in addition to their other Marvel work on Spider-Woman, Moon Knight and Infamous Iron Man. In addition to their Marvel projects, they have also collaborated on popular creator owned titles including Scarlet and the Spawn spinoff Sam and Twitch.
This latest creator owned project from the pair proves to be just as good. Masterpiece is very to the point over the type of story it wants to be which is a traditional heist adventure in the spirit of Ocean’s Eleven and the Italian Job. It has all the right ingredients you’d expect with a cast of entertaining characters with different criminal skills. In addition, Bendis sprinkles the right level of mystery and intrigue to give the series some extra suspense. But – as to be expected – Bendis’ main strength continues to be his dialogue which gives the characters an authentic voice. Emma in particular – despite being a genius and having master criminal parents – comes off as very relatable and carries the story in the early stages.
Maleev’s art remains tremendous. He has always been at home in the noir genre or stories with a generally darker vibe, but he strikes a balance in Masterpiece with the more light-hearted elements which mesh well with the crime caper approach the series takes. He remains a prolific user of negative space, and his characters are packed with expression whilst keeping it in a more realistic style.
Masterpiece is a fun crime story that will appeal to fans of this acclaimed creative pairing. Anyone who appreciates great crime comics should give this series a look.
William of Newbury is out 21 January from Dark Horse (9781506740836, p/b, £18.99)
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