Writer: Tom King
Artist: Bilquis Evely
Colorist: Matheus Lopes
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Cover Artists: Bilquis Evely and Matheus Lopes; Jill Thompson
Publisher: Mike Richardson
Editors: Daniel Chabon, Chuck Howitt-Lease & Misha Gehr
Designer: Hannah Noble
Digital Art Technician: Adam Pruett
Publisher: Dark Horse
Price: $4.99
Release Date: September 4, 2024
Early 20th-century author C.K. Cole has fallen afoul of the Political Correctness camp. Yet his stories live on, if only on the dusty shelves of a second-hand bookstore or in the long boxes of your local comic shop. A fan discovers a key issue of an Othan comic at a convention. The dealer mentions he purchased the research and collectibles Thomas Rogers accumulated while writing his biography, Fighting Monsters: The Life And Tragic Death Of Fantasy Master C.K. Cole. Should the fan purchase Thomas' research and learn more about C. K. Cole, his father Barnabas, and his daughter Helen? Let’s leap into Helen Of Wyndhorn #4 and see!
Story
Haunted by her father’s suicide, Helen found comfort in drunkenness. Barnabas saw little harm in her fondness for cigarettes and alcohol, but when Helen smashed up the armory and played with a sword, her grandfather took her to return the Flyune to Lady Hearth. Helen enjoyed their journey, so Barnabas made her his companion. But in Helen Of Wyndhorn #4, she decides that she wants more. Helen doesn't want to hide behind him as Barnabas battles people, monsters, and gods. Helen wants to fight at his side.
Joseph accepts the task of training Helen. While Lilith rails against the butler’s torments, Helen accepts his trials without complaint. The divine Lady Hearth, Helen's grandmother, asked Barnabas to give Joseph her love. Lilith can only see Joseph in his status at the Wyndhorn estate. But he is much more than a butler. Joseph cleans the house so impeccably that he gives Lilith little to do when she isn't teaching Helen. Joseph's rigorous demands leave Helen little time to conjugate French verbs or study English literature. But Joseph effects a transformation in Helen that Lilith’s lessons never could and reveals a deep understanding of the world Barnabas often visits in Helen Of Wyndhorn #4.
Lilith’s world revolves around propriety and convention. She strives to prepare Helen for it. Yet Lilith has no status in the world she inhabits. Nor does the governess have much in the way of career opportunities. Like Anne Brontë, Lilith took up her solitary profession to survive. Helen’s drinking and smoking, and her disrespect for Lilith’s authority, assail her as much as the children at Blake Hall traumatized Anne. But Lilith is a fighter. Barnabas and Joseph hold no more terror for Lilith than Callubaraux held for Helen. Yet Lilith becomes a more complete person in Helen Of Wyndhorn #4.
Barnabas doesn’t speak much, particularly about the past. The man Lady Hearth called Othan The Unrivaled lives a harsh but substantive life. He disregards Lilith’s concerns about deportment and etiquette and caters to his granddaughter’s desires. Yet pain weighs him down. The warrior who can take on an army blames Joseph for his failure. Helen’s determination to become a warrior brings Barnabas joy. But can she meet his exacting standards?
Art
Bilquis Evely conveys Tom King’s meditation on family and the power of fantasy with elegance and style. Battle scenes convey otherworldly grandeur. Yet the pain Lilith suffers as she discovers an essential truth about herself is paired with a reminder of the fantastic. Matheus Lopes lavishes an ever-changing limited palette upon Evely’s classic illustrations. Joseph, Helen, and Lilith walk by the lake guarded by trees bearing sparse foliage amid blue and green. Lilith clasps her hands before a wall of the blacksmith’s tools as she watches Barnabus hammer his sword near the forge amid yellow and brown. Brown shows through winter white in a double exposure of Helen hanging from a tree branch and battling Joseph. Later, Helen awaits inspection between two ivy-adorned columns in Helen Of Wyndhorn #4. Her red, silver, and gold clothing, armor, and weapons evoke steampunk but suggest medieval splendor.
Large uppercase black letters inhabit white and ivory dialogue balloons. Lilith's narration is a lowercase black script on pink parchment. Words embolden for emphasis and swell for volume, while Clayton Cowles sprinkles sound effects sparingly across two or more years of Helen’s extraordinary life. Thanks to Dark Horse Comics for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
When Lilith undertook the role of Helen's governess, she never anticipated becoming the biographer of C.K. Cole’s daughter. She disregarded the pulp-era fantasies Helen’s father wrote. Lilith’s efforts to prepare Helen for a system she esteems receive an unexpected boost in Helen Of Wyndhorn #4. But is that what Lilith wants?
Rating 9.6/10
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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