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Mirror #1
Mirror #1
EMMA RÍOS (PRETTY DEADLY, ISLAND) and HWEI LIM (Lalage, Hero) team up for a new ongoing series, following a terrorist talking dog, an idealist mage, and a heroic lab rat on their quest for acceptance.
Unknown Binding
First published February 3, 2016
2 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
Emma Ríos
137 books101 followersEmma Ríos Maneiro is a Spanish cartoonist and illustrator.
Rios was born in Vilagarcía de Arousa, Spain in 1976 and early in her life developed an interest in drawing. She graduated in Architecture from the University of A Coruña.
Ríos worked as an architect for some years, while being active in the Spanish independent comics and fanzine scene. In particular, she self-publishing her comic book APB (A Prueba de Balas) (meaning: 'bulletproof') through the collective Polaqia.
In 2007 Ríos left her job as an architect to become a full-time comic book artist. Since then she has worked for various mainstream American publishers, such as Boom! Studios, Marvel, DC and Image Comics. At Image she co-created the series Mirror with Hwei Lim and Pretty Deadly with writer Kelly Sue DeConnick. The latter comic book earned her an Eisner award for Best cover in 2020.
Rios was born in Vilagarcía de Arousa, Spain in 1976 and early in her life developed an interest in drawing. She graduated in Architecture from the University of A Coruña.
Ríos worked as an architect for some years, while being active in the Spanish independent comics and fanzine scene. In particular, she self-publishing her comic book APB (A Prueba de Balas) (meaning: 'bulletproof') through the collective Polaqia.
In 2007 Ríos left her job as an architect to become a full-time comic book artist. Since then she has worked for various mainstream American publishers, such as Boom! Studios, Marvel, DC and Image Comics. At Image she co-created the series Mirror with Hwei Lim and Pretty Deadly with writer Kelly Sue DeConnick. The latter comic book earned her an Eisner award for Best cover in 2020.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 26, 2017
Summary: Mirror, is a fantasy comic about a boy named Ivan a magician, Sena his talking dog and Zun a talking rat. When Ivan and Sena are separated, Ivan becomes very sad but continues to become a master magician. 30 years later, we are introduced to Zun who is given strict orders to kill his friend, (a talking bear) Lesnick who is held prisoner by the Lord, Kazbeck. Lesnick has information that Kazbeck wants, but Zun is torn between risking his life to save Lesnick or facing the consequences from Lord Kazbeck.
Theme: I think that the overall theme in this comic is acceptance, we see from the beginning that Sena and Ivan are separated because she is in love with him. I think the author is trying to tell the readers to accept people no matter who they are or what they look like. In the prologue, we see that Sena makes herself invisible hiding behind the trees as Kazbeck says that they can try to make their world a better place so that everyone can be welcomed home to. This suggests that not everyone is accepted and hints at the theme before the story line even begins.
Character: We are introduced to the protagonist of the story in the very opening scene as Ivan. He is a round dynamic character as we see him change from being a caring person to using his magic powers to hurt people. The antagonistic is brought on early in the scene as Kazbeck, a Lord who wants to keep the animal experiments for further testing and learning. Although he is somewhat of a flat character since we only see him in a few key panels, it is evident that the opposing views between Ivan and Kazbeck drive the plot and contributes to the various conflicts between characters. For example, Ivan and Sena are longtime loyal friends and we see Sena side with the other animal hybrids and shows animosity towards Ivan.
Gutters: The artist does an excellent job with gutter use throughout the comic. In several scenes, I see panels interacting with each other. For example, in two landscape action-to-action panels the use of gutter space is very creative. As Zun is ordered to clean up the lab we see him in the first panel see a spider and jump from an upper level to catch it, we see him jump on the wall and then wrap his tail around the gutter in between the first and second panels trying to reach a spider who is walking over the second panel. Then in the second panel we see he lands and walks down the stairs. The gutter use brought me into the scene and I felt as if I was the only one who saw Zun do this. I think the author didn’t want to leave how he got the spider to the imagination, as this plays a crucial part of the next few scenes as Ivan does testing on insects.
Lines: The use of line is evident among the characters and the way it is used to emphasize their emotions and body language which hint at what they have been through, tell a story of their own. For example, when we are reintroduced to Ivan after 30 years, we see his same soft demeanor in the way that he asks Zun if Lesnick is still refusing to eat. In this scene, we only see his eyes but the crows feet, eyebrow expression line and that his eyes are lowered and sad looking makes him look tired and concerned for Lesnick suggesting that the battle with Kazbeck has gone on far too long.
Opinion: I have mixed feelings about this comic because it was a bit confusing to me at times since the plot can be sort of hard to follow if you are not paying close attention to the actions of the characters. A few times I had to go back and re-read certain sections to better understand what was happening. The illustrations enhanced the characters and made them feel as if they came alive. Seeing the bright vivid colors mixed with dark mysterious ones as I flipped through the comic made me excited to read the contents of the pages.
Theme: I think that the overall theme in this comic is acceptance, we see from the beginning that Sena and Ivan are separated because she is in love with him. I think the author is trying to tell the readers to accept people no matter who they are or what they look like. In the prologue, we see that Sena makes herself invisible hiding behind the trees as Kazbeck says that they can try to make their world a better place so that everyone can be welcomed home to. This suggests that not everyone is accepted and hints at the theme before the story line even begins.
Character: We are introduced to the protagonist of the story in the very opening scene as Ivan. He is a round dynamic character as we see him change from being a caring person to using his magic powers to hurt people. The antagonistic is brought on early in the scene as Kazbeck, a Lord who wants to keep the animal experiments for further testing and learning. Although he is somewhat of a flat character since we only see him in a few key panels, it is evident that the opposing views between Ivan and Kazbeck drive the plot and contributes to the various conflicts between characters. For example, Ivan and Sena are longtime loyal friends and we see Sena side with the other animal hybrids and shows animosity towards Ivan.
Gutters: The artist does an excellent job with gutter use throughout the comic. In several scenes, I see panels interacting with each other. For example, in two landscape action-to-action panels the use of gutter space is very creative. As Zun is ordered to clean up the lab we see him in the first panel see a spider and jump from an upper level to catch it, we see him jump on the wall and then wrap his tail around the gutter in between the first and second panels trying to reach a spider who is walking over the second panel. Then in the second panel we see he lands and walks down the stairs. The gutter use brought me into the scene and I felt as if I was the only one who saw Zun do this. I think the author didn’t want to leave how he got the spider to the imagination, as this plays a crucial part of the next few scenes as Ivan does testing on insects.
Lines: The use of line is evident among the characters and the way it is used to emphasize their emotions and body language which hint at what they have been through, tell a story of their own. For example, when we are reintroduced to Ivan after 30 years, we see his same soft demeanor in the way that he asks Zun if Lesnick is still refusing to eat. In this scene, we only see his eyes but the crows feet, eyebrow expression line and that his eyes are lowered and sad looking makes him look tired and concerned for Lesnick suggesting that the battle with Kazbeck has gone on far too long.
Opinion: I have mixed feelings about this comic because it was a bit confusing to me at times since the plot can be sort of hard to follow if you are not paying close attention to the actions of the characters. A few times I had to go back and re-read certain sections to better understand what was happening. The illustrations enhanced the characters and made them feel as if they came alive. Seeing the bright vivid colors mixed with dark mysterious ones as I flipped through the comic made me excited to read the contents of the pages.
March 5, 2017
3.5 stars. Captivating art and character design, but confusing storytelling and world-building. Most likely best read as a trade, I may continue this at some point.
July 27, 2018
I went into issue 1 of Mirror without any expectations and I still don't know what to think lol. My bf gifted it years ago because he thought I would like the illustrations. I finally read it and he was right; the art is pretty legit. On the other hand, the plot... chile... the plot lol.
So, from my understanding, the plot focuses on a talented/magical student and his dog turned lover? FYI, the book doesn't feature vulgar scenes of bestiality. I don't even know if it qualifies as pro-bestiality because the boy is enrolled in an institution where a scientist is converting animals into "conscious beings" in order to extract magical properties from said animals/beings. And (it seems) each student gets an animal at childhood to train before said pet is converted. I digress. My major problem is the first issue doesn't offer enough background and character development to see the boy's relationship with his "dog" as anything more than literal furry fuckery. Plus the world-building is almost nonexistent.
So yeah, definitely not continuing the series nor would I recommend it to anyone I know.
Additional Notes: TWs for animal cruelty and death
So, from my understanding, the plot focuses on a talented/magical student and his dog turned lover? FYI, the book doesn't feature vulgar scenes of bestiality. I don't even know if it qualifies as pro-bestiality because the boy is enrolled in an institution where a scientist is converting animals into "conscious beings" in order to extract magical properties from said animals/beings. And (it seems) each student gets an animal at childhood to train before said pet is converted. I digress. My major problem is the first issue doesn't offer enough background and character development to see the boy's relationship with his "dog" as anything more than literal furry fuckery. Plus the world-building is almost nonexistent.
So yeah, definitely not continuing the series nor would I recommend it to anyone I know.
Additional Notes: TWs for animal cruelty and death
February 21, 2022
3,5
Le pongo buena nota por el excelente dibujo de Emma Ríos, que domina una amplia variedad de estilos y todos con soltura. La historia a medio camino entre la magia y la pseudoecología no me acabó de convencer. Tanto que sólo me leí el primer arco argumental, los 5 primeros libros.
Le pongo buena nota por el excelente dibujo de Emma Ríos, que domina una amplia variedad de estilos y todos con soltura. La historia a medio camino entre la magia y la pseudoecología no me acabó de convencer. Tanto que sólo me leí el primer arco argumental, los 5 primeros libros.
December 17, 2016
The story was so different, I heard the voices in my head differently than a lot of other comics I have read lately. And the artist, Lim, is really playing with line and structure of the page, which I love. Plus it all rightly feels like a watercolor dream. I imagine that this may be the kind of book I want to read in trade, so I will keep an eye on it for the future. 3.5 stars.
September 9, 2016
Beautiful watercolor art and wonderfully creative use of panels and gutters which form intricate designs and sometimes interact with characters. The bright, sunshine-y art is juxtaposed to a much darker storyline, and ambiguity and uncertainty permeates both images and narrative.
February 13, 2016
The artwork and story were beautiful even though confusing at times.
March 21, 2016
Really hope what follows lives up to this first issue <3
March 29, 2016
I wasn't sure where this was going, but the journey was beautiful and I want more of it.
May 23, 2016
Intriguing start, perhaps tries to do too much. Gorgeous art. If 8house (which this was originally part of) had been this interesting maybe I would have kept with it.
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February 3, 2022I think I like this.... but it was slightly confusing and i'm not really sure what was going on with the ending. I plan to read the next issue to see if it is something worth continuing.
April 24, 2016
The art can be a bit hard to follow at times but the story is interesting.
July 30, 2016
Rereading the first five issues! Still in love with this art omg
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews