The Slave Hunter by Malik Shabazz Takes Us On Our First Trip Into the World of Altaire...
The Slave Hunter is just the first piece of a bigger picture known as "The Sword Is My Lady, The Lady Is My Sword." At first, the book may come across as unassuming. Then, you open it up... and you immediately learn that this ENTIRE BOOK was created by one man. That fact, in itself, is an amazing undertaking, but once you actually delve into the world of Altaire and the story of "Mad" Maddie Grimoire, it's easy to see that this book is the result of a creator who revels in hard work.
The story arc does a good job of hooking the reader in and then twisting things on us, more than once even. While this issue does a good job of drawing us into the world of Altaire, it still leaves quiet a bit unanswered about the larger plot at hand. We see the story open with a brief history or Altaire and its warring races. Three races populate this planet, Humans, and then two Majik-wielding races, the Majin and the Thessans. Each race has its own unique relationship to Altaire's life force, Majik, but we don't get to learn an enormous amount about that in this issue. The opening scenes cut off quickly with what seems to be the set-up for this entire series. The Majin and The Thessans say "peace out" to the humans and their non-majik wielding asses. The Majik-wielding races build a barrier, leaving the humans out in the cold and thus the world has peace. (Imagine that, getting rid of all humans is the only way to achieve world peace.) We're then launched into the more character driven part of the story with a foreboding message that "peace is not everlasting."
Enter Maddie Grimoire, the slave hunter and namesake for this issue. Presumably, Maddie is just one of three or maybe even four main characters (judging by either the placard on the cover or the teaser at the end of this issue). We catch her mid-hunt and a beautiful hunt it is. One multi-page spread in the midst of the hunt is just down-right gorgeous. As you might expect, Maddie gets her man and delivers the only remaining piece of him to collect her bounty. And then there's a great twist. I don't want to spoil it for you here, because I want to urge you to go get this book.
The story unfolds quite unexpectedly for our Slave Hunter, and it seems that the following events are only the beginning of bigger things to come. The last page teases the story for the next book, "The Baddest Warrior There Ever Was." From the page previews that Malik, aka Night M.A.I.R.S., shares on his Facebook page, the next book really looks like a doozy.
Aside from the narrative itself, the thematic elements of the story are also exceptional. Malik has lovingly crafted a world with a diverse population. This is important because it creates a setting where the race and gender issues that we face in our own world are still present in the undertones of Altaire. At one point, we see a female human who has put out a hit on a Majin slave surprisingly break down in tears at the news when Maddie comes to collect the bounty. When asked why, the woman replies that we're more alike than we admit, and that "sometimes being a woman can feel like being a slave." This is powerful stuff that is often rare in the comic book medium. I, for one, salute Malik for taking the visual storytelling forum to a deeper and more meaningful place while still showing and telling us a fascinating tale.
To give a brief critique, I think the writing and the art, from illustration through to the color, are excellent. And then, once you factor in that all of this is a one-man show, it's truly extraordinary. The only underwhelming parts of this book are the cover and then some small issues with the lettering. The art for the cover is not bad, but it doesn't portray the depth and girth of the pages within. This is unfortunate because it does a disservice to the rest of the book. I wish that Night M.A.I.R.S. would have collaborated with another artist to possibly capture the entirety of the book in a single breath-taking image versus just the character art that we see as is it. On the lettering front, there are no large complaints there, only that the bubbles feel crowded and the way the bubbles are arranged doesn't always lead the eye across the page in the proper reading order. These are all minor issues that could be easily solved in future issues. I think the future of this franchise is very bright.
Overall, The Slave Hunter is a behemoth of a book. On top of that, it's just the first phase of a story with a greater narrative to come (presumably). Night M.A.I.R.S. has revealed that he will be doing three issues leading up to a graphic novel Kickstarter campaign. We'll keep you posted on when all that starts to happen, but until then you can go pick up your own copy here at IndyPlanet: http://www.indyplanet.com/front/product/113652/ - The book is now on special for a very limited time at the price of $3.99. This is a steal for an indie comic of this nature, don't sleep on this. Go support your independent (and when I say independent, in this case I really mean it) comic book creators!
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