Writer: Tom King
Artist: Bilquis Evely
Colorist: Matheus Lopes
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Cover Artists: Bilquis Evely and Matheus Lopes; Fábio Moon
Publisher: Dark Horse
Price: $4.99
Release Date: June 19, 2024
After Thomas Rogers dies, his partner hires an auction house. The dealer admires the framed art adorning one of Christopher Krieger Cole’s books. A recent movie heightened interest in the early 20th Century author. The dealer believes the art will command a princely sum and asks for more items associated with C.K. Cole. The partner points to boxes containing Thomas’ research for his biography, Fighting Monsters: The Life And Tragic Death Of Fantasy Master C.K. Cole. Among Thomas’ notes are cassette tapes of his interview with Lilith Appleton. What more can we learn about C. K. Cole, his father Barnabas, and his daughter Helen from the girl’s governess? Let’s grab our pens and notepads, leap into Helen Of Wyndhorn #3, and see what we can learn!
Story
Barnabas promised Lilith that he and Helen would return in a few days. But a month passed before Helen burst into Lilith's bedroom one night. Helen was enthusiastic and yearned to tell her governess of her adventures. But Lilith chides Helen for her unladylike conduct. Still, Helen's story bursts out like a lock releasing water into a river. Helen explains that she and her grandfather walked for hours until they came to the boundary of the Wyndhorn estate. They entered a cabin and emerged in a desert.
Helen Of Wyndhorn #3 transports readers to fantastic locals. Helen’s adventures with her grandfather bring her father's stories to life. She realizes that C.K. Cole based his tales of Othan on Barnabas' exploits. Helen also discerns a crucial difference between herself and her father. Or perhaps it is too soon to say, as she only paid one visit to this fantasy land. But her father spent his life running away from Wyndhorn and interpersonal conflicts. He didn't want Helen to read his stories. In the end, Christopher abandoned her when alcohol could no longer distract him from the future he envisaged or the knowledge too terrible to bear.
Tom King mixes folklore and epic fantasy with Judeo-Christian beliefs in Helen Of Wyndhorn #3. Helen learns about her family and heritage as she ventures as a stranger into a strange land. Readers also learn why Thomas rejected Lilith’s Amazing Stories. Yet we are left to wonder why Thomas did nothing with them after listening to the cassette tapes again following his book signing. But then, it is one thing to celebrate fantasy and another to believe it.
Art
Helen’s journey fulfills Lilith's hopes. The young woman beams as she regales her governess with her exploits. Yet how long until that enthusiasm dims in the wood-paneled fortress, surrounded by inked walls?
The Wyndhorn Estate has never looked wilder as Helen tugs the little horned animal up a hill and through the overgrown trees and shrubs. A crone sits outside a cottage, evoking the collected tales of The Brothers Grimm. But the varied landscapes that Helen, Barnabas, and the flyune traverse owe more to Peter Jackson than Terry Gilliam. Tom King's story suggests tales by Robert E. Howard and H P Lovecraft, but Bilquis Evely’s settings and people recall fantasies by Michael Moorcock, Jack Vance, and Larry Niven.
Matheus Lopes applies limited palettes to fantasy landscapes in Helen Of Wyndhorn #3. The color sets change as the travelers brave deserts, swamps, and snow-capped mountains. Yet Lopez lavishes a loaded palette on settings such as a tavern illuminated by glowing orbs, a twisted tree beside a stream, and a woman who welcomes the flyune. This final scene proves so radiant that readers will understand why Barnabas, the mighty warrior, departs so quickly. But then, they share a history that changes Helen's understanding of herself.
Large uppercase black letters inhabit ivory dialogue balloons. Ivory letters in green balloons show the crone's utterances. White letters in black balloons reveal the radiant, godlike woman's conversation. Thomas Rogers never shared Lilith's Amazing Stories with his readers, so Clayton Cowles does the honors with cursive lowercase letters on yellowed parchment. Despite all the times crimson stains Barnabas' sword, no sound effects enhance Helen's initiation to this fantastic world. But enlarged black letters threaten to burst their balloon amid a fight to the death in Helen Of Wyndhorn #3. Thanks to Dark Horse Comics for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
Lilith begged Barnabas to take an interest in his granddaughter. Barnabas may be a man of few words, but their fraught and dangerous journey banishes the distance between them and the despair that hung over Helen after her father's suicide in Helen Of Wyndhorn #3.
Rating 9.4/10
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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