Thursday, December 22, 2016

Pathfinder: Worldscape #3 - A Review

Kyra is a priestess of Sarenrae - goddess of light and healing. Separated from her companions and trapped in the prison plane known as The Worldscape, she has taken refugee in the city of Shareen - a dark and wicked place in need of Sarenrae's light. Yet when an act of compassion brings Kyra to the attentions of The Tharns - death priests aligned with the evil ruler of Shareen - the priestess will win the aid of another hero - John Carter, Warlord of Mars!


The artwork for this issue suits the grim and gritty setting well. Artist Jonathan Lau does a fantastic job layering each panel, with thin inks barely outlining the characters and thicker inks crafting defining shadows. This enables colorist Omi Remlante to finish the art with similarly varied palettes.
What truly sells this issue, however, is writer Erik Mona's command of the characters and his brilliant ideas for playing the heroes of different settings off of one another. The issue's best sequence sees the inquisitive Kyra asking John Carter about the gods of his world.  It's an interesting point, not often examined in this kind of crossover, that the gods of worlds like Golarion offer continual evidence of their existence compared to the indifferent gods of Hyboria. I also love how this fact is more disturbing to the faithful than the faithless. John Carter doesn't put much store in gods or priests of any kind, but the practical warrior knows good souls and good things when he sees them. It is ironic then that Kyra winds up seeking an affirmation of her faith in the face of True Darkness from the humanist.

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