Winters in Levelle

[Jamie]

Here's another fantasy comic with the word "winter" in the title! XD

Winters in Lavelle
http://wintersinlavelle.com/

To sum up, it is the story of two siblings from the real world, Kari and Aiden Winters, who get lost in the magical world of Lavelle and struggle to survive there.

At first, this story looks pretty done before. I remember reading it earlier on, and didn't bookmark it because it did not do anything for me. But lately, the story really shines as things start to develop outside of the normal "lost in a fantasy world" routine. It's now one of the few comics I read on an update-to-update basis.

Aiden is a typical youth who doesn't feel like he has a place in the world and wants to get away from it all. When he finds out that his dad (shown as a neglectful parent) owns a magic orb, he tries it out, as most of us would. It sends him to another world. He also gets his younger sister, Kari, dragged into the mess, although Kari is much more rational and thinks this is not a good idea. Now both siblings are trapped in the world of Lavelle.

Where there the series takes a turn is that the world of Lavelle is extremely uninviting compared to most "sent to another world" stories. There's a tense situation between several parties in Lavelle, one of which is the Deermen (people with deer ears and antler masks) who aggressively hunt all intruders in their forest. Others have not been fully explored, but include the humans and possibly dragon people who are also territorial. Aiden discovers right away that this is not the awesome fantasy world he was looking for.

Kari runs into a cloaked young man named Ashton who may actually be a "prince," some kind of dragon kin from another land that everybody despises. Ashton immediately becomes protective of Kari and only with his protection is she able to survive. The siblings also meet Rio, a one-eyed woodsman ("cool guy" of the series), and his partner Xan, who is a Deerman himself, but appears to be unassociated with the people hunting Kari and Aiden. His fierce loyalty to Rio is the only thing that is obvious. These allies are not out for the siblings' best interest, and even turn on them (violently) at times.

This comic takes a concept that we all know from children's fiction and applies the consequences to the characters' actions that you would expect from fiction aimed at adults. The main characters get brutally injured, beaten, and have trouble finding any allies who don't want to kill them. There are no helpful talking beavers or appearances from Santa Claus. Even Kari's healing power, which is pretty standard for the young heroine, is destructive and painful in nature.

Artistically, the comic is well done. It is a black-and-white comic in an anime-inspired style, but still very unique. I see more of an older, Osamu Tezuka classic anime influence here than popular animu. The backgrounds are very detailed and organic, portraying the darkness and depth of Lavelle's forests.

Although the beginning of the story was a bit weak, once it gets rolling it is a tense ride with several cool characters and dramatic action.