Parliament of Rooks #4: Winter

Parliament of Rooks #4

by Abigail Jill Harding (Writer/Illustrator), Richard Starkings (Writer/Letterer)

While in mourning, Darius is led by a ghost deep in the snow covered forest. He meets an old associate of his mother’s, who recalls the intriguing story of the night he was born.

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Supernatural

53 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 13, 2024

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things come to a head as Darius finds out who he really is and where he came from.



It ends on a cliffhanger as he decides to embrace his true form and take his place in the world.
Will true love win in the end?



I'm digging these!

[James Rivett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Winter chapter reveals too much too fast. As visually stunning as the previous three, this graphic novel suffers the weight of its own story in too short a format. I can assume the many revelations in this penultimate chapter are paving the way for a glorious, if gory, conclusion.

[LittlePiscesReading]

In grief we return to Darius’ telling and memories of Rowanna. His promise to be a good brother, now broken. And the machinations of his mother are revealed as Calisandra’s ghost leads him to their graves. It’s a fascinating lead-in to the nature of Darius’ transformations and proper introduction to Magnus Dux Malphas. With that Winter is another issue that bursts into spectacular colour as Darius leaps to protect his beloved Seraphina.

I feel I should like this issue more than I do. It’s found its balance between emotion and reveals. The battle is epic and full of such loss. It’s a feast for the eye without compromising on the brutality inflicted by a demon such as Malphas. However I did find it disappointing that the [] woman was tortured and murdered and we have a character of colour introduced just to exposit the exact same information and then be punted from the narrative. Personally I prefer not to have tokenised characters.

At this point I would also have liked to have seen more of Darius and Seraphina’s relationship. It’s the central force of the comic and Darius spends so much time pushing her away. While I enjoyed last issue it still doesn’t quite make me understand who they are to each other besides a prophesied doom and the moon maiden. They love each other, certainly. We’ve seen them be punished by her father who disapproves of their relationship. We’ve seen them tested by the horrors. We haven’t really seen them except in the very beginning when Darius arrives and is asked to retell their story to Seraphina and in a handful of panels here. But that’s reminiscing.

[GENARO PEREZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic and beautiful storytelling

This issue was quite the page turner with amazing art and fast paced storytelling. No spoilers here but the battle sequence is absolutely fantastic. Looking forward to the next issue!

[Bookworm With a B · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars for a fantastic fight between Good and Evil.

This is a great series and it helps break up the larger books I usually read. The story is engaging, the draws are dark and brutal, and the flow is seamless. Now on to Hell!

[Dakota Bedeski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fate

Even when finding out who he was, Ravenscar decided to stay true to who was before. To be light, not darkness.

[pothreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/10 - The art style is epic. The story is feeling a little rushed though.

[Rio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

3.5 purely because of what happened to Rosa. I didn’t like that but the rest of it was good !!