[Comic Review] Shades of Magic Vol 1: The Steel Prince by V.E. Schwab

Delve into the thrilling, epic tale of the young and arrogant prince Maxim Maresh, long before he became the king of Red London and adoptive father to Kell, the lead of A Darker Shade of Magic!

The youthful Maresh is sent to a violent and unmanageable port city on the Blood Coast of Verose, on strict orders from his father, King Nokil Maresh, to cut his military teeth in this lawless landscape.

There, he encounters an unruly band of soldiers, a lawless landscape, and the intoxicatingly deadly presence of the newly returned pirate queen, Arisa...

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Victoria Schwab is my favorite author, and every single book I've read by her has been a four star or higher, so I genuinely love her writing and story. I think she's one of those authors that writes middle grade, young adult, and adult fiction all amazingly. So when I heard she was tackling a new genre, comic books, I was ready, especially since I read comics, graphic novels, and manga pretty often. 

First, the characters, I love Isra so much and I am ready to learn more about her ASAP. She is so incredibly badass. I think Schwab does a fantastic job writing really badass women characters and Isra isn't an exception because she's amazing. I also really liked Maxim and it was really cool to get to know him and his backstory. These characters make me so excited to continue this comic series because of how much I loved them (mostly Isra, I love her so much). I am really excited to learn more about both of them because they are such interesting characters and they have a great dynamic. Also, the villain, Asria is terrifying but also incredibly badass. I am not rooting for her to win, at all, but I also respect how powerful she is, it's hard not to find her interesting.

Schwab's writing style comes across even through the comic text, which I was surprised about because a lot of the story in comics is shown in both writing and art so there isn't as much room to have a distinct writing voice/style. However, I did have some issues with the story at times. It was sometimes confusing and hard to follow, I think it had more to do with the writing style and not the writing itself. I dn't think it conveyed things clear enough for the reader (or at least for me) to understand what is happening. I think where things got the most confusing and muddled is mostly the more action based moments. I honestly think the art style is my least favorite part of the comic book. I understand that covers (and alternate covers) are always a bit more pretty because more time can go into them but with the panels there are so many to do that the artist needs to work a bit faster. However, I just really disliked a lot of the choices with the facial features of the characters especially when seeing the gorgeous covers. I will post the two I loved the most below. I swear I say this every time I love a full page piece or covers but I want prints of these two so bad so I can collect them. 

Aren't they gorgeous?! Especially the second one, oh my god. I know it's because I love Isra so much but  I love the second one with all my heart. Ah! 

Overall, I highly recommend this comic book series especially if you like the Shades of Magic trilogy or even Schwab's books. This is a prequel comic series, so the events happen before the events in Shades of Magic (I believe 30 years before). Even with the fact that I wasn't a fan of the art style, I absolutely plan on continuing this series and it makes me want to re-read the Shades of Magic trilogy afterwards. I just need to buy the editions I want (the gorgeous Collectors Editions). 

Have you read this comic or the Shades of Magic series? What did you think? 

Thanks for reading!