Birthright #7

By Joshua Williamson, Andrei Bressan, and Adriano Lucas

Birthright has been a wild ride thus far and issue #7 pushes a little further into this second arc, towards what is surely going to be an epic showdown with another mage, Mikey and Brennan, their mom, Rya, and the desert folks. That certainly is a lot of character paths all heading towards a collision course with each other. This exciting series is only going to get crazier, so if you aren’t on board, now is a great time to start!

Joshua Williamson has crafted a great universe with Andrei Bressan and Williamson’s dialogue is fantastic. One of the high points of this series is the conversations between Mikey and Brennan, and the realistic relationship that is portrayed on the pages. Brennan’s youthful, inquiring mind and their brotherly love is incredibly endearing despite the obvious issues with Mikey’s time in Terrenos. Their relationship has evolved since leaving behind their parents, where Mikey’s accelerated experience has led to him being a father figure to Brennan. The introduction of pregnant Rya has also been a great decision. Her path towards a confrontation with Mikey will hopefully end in many answers as to what happened to Mikey in Terrenos. The complicated relationships really drive the action in Birthright and while Mikey’s battles are exciting, the greatest intrigue is in Mikey’s history in Terrenos!

Andrei Bressan and Adriano Lucas combine to make some amazing art in this issue. Birthright has some great scenes in the forests and deserts of earth and the other-worldly scenery of Terrenos. Mikey and Brennan’s move into the desert has allowed Lucas to change color palates and the results are great. Some of the orange-purple skies in this issue are stunning and the desert is colored expertly. Bressan’s character design is top-notch as always and the detail is incredible in many panels. One particular example is a panel where Mikey explains to Brennan that forces from Terrenos call to something inside of him, and you can see, right in the middle of the panel, the red scarring on Mikey’s back shoulder from whatever it is that is possessing him.

Birthright has been a perfect marriage of writing and art to this point. This is one of Image’s best series on both fronts and it seems to only be getting better!