Birthright, Vol. 4: Family History

Birthright #4

by Joshua Williamson, Andrei Bressan (Artist), Adriano Lucas (Artist)

The longer Mikey Rhodes remains on Earth, the more the evil within him is unleashed. As the remaining mages gather to take him down, a lost member of the Rhodes family returns... but can they recover from the damage already done?

Collecting: Birthright 16-20

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Adventure, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published December 20, 2016

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aptly named Family History, this volume of Birthright gives you the skinny on Mikey's grandfather. <--if you read the last volume, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
I'm still on the fence about that guy.



BUT THEN!
You also have Mikey's mom and his pregnant wife doing some serious bonding. I have a feeling that those two are going to kick his ass at some point.



Then there's little bro, Brennan going all glowy.
What the hell is up with this family?!



Again, this is one of those comics that you can't really say much about without spoiling it for everyone.
Read it!

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grandpa Samael makes his mark on this fourth volume of Birthright as the machinations of the mages become clear, and both Mikey and Brennan move forward on their hero's journey while their mother and Rya run afoul of one of the other mages, before everything explodes and goes even more wrong.

Birthright's a very easy book to pick up and read in trade form. Within a few pages I'd remembered everything that had happened up to this point, despite not having read the series for six months, which is a very good sign.

The character work here is top notch; Joshua Williamson is fast becoming one of those writers I'm keeping an eye on. Brennan and Aaron's relationship, as well as Aaron and Samael's, are the hingepoints of this volume and they hold it all up very well. We also get some exploration of Samael and Enoch's backstory, and whilst the ladies' plotline takes the back seat, there's a lot of potential for everything to explode (again) in the next volume.

Andrei Bressan's artwork remains highly detailed and great to look at. I love Image's approach to comics, allowing artists to get the most lead time and doing their best work as a result.

There are a lot of sword-and-sorcery books out there, but Birthright makes its claim by being a very character-driven, gorgeous-looking entry into the genre.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is where this comic officially goes from a 4-star to a 3-star for me. It's time to start filling in some details, but no. Nothing is coming. The art is great and the coloring is a big part of that, but I'm starting to get a bit frustrated by the storytelling. It can't be just a propulsive journey/battle, etc., without some of the background being filled-in.

[Matt Quann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Birthright returns with what has been its best volume since the first! Everything that works so well in the first volume is brought to the forefront after two volumes that expanded the cast and deepened mysteries. Brennan and Mikey's journey at the conclusion of the third volume saw their grandfather revealed as one of the mages Mikey is out to knock-off. This fourth volume tells the stories of Grandpa Samael in flashback while moving forward the story of Mikey's battle with the Nevermind of God King Lore.

As I said before, this volume works uses the best of Birthright: it focuses on the Rhodes family and the world of Terrenos. Williamson is able to land some solid emotional beats here with the intergenerational conflict, while contrasting them with the world-ending stakes of the story. At its heart, Birthright seems to be a story about redeeming Mikey. Can he be rehabilitated or will he forever be a servant of Lore? It makes for a compelling tale that is made all the better by having Brennan come into his own in this volume (a bit too bad that it is somewhat spoiled by this volume's cover).

Andrei Bressan continues to impress with his art, and he looks like he's having a lot of fun while doing it! The creatures and environments in this series are adventurous and unique, but they still share genetic material with Tolkien's classic. The backstory provided by Samael clears up a lot of mysteries while also giving a pretty good history of Terrenos. There's some great fantastical spreads here that genuinely impress.

By this volume's end there's a huge revelation, pieces moved on the proverbial chessboard, and conflicts just starting to brew. What I like about Birthright, other than all the stuff I've mentioned, is that the volumes always end with a sense of progress. I expect certain things from the series, but I'm continuously surprised by how it rolls out. I'll be following this one in trades through to its conclusion. Recommended!

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

As Mikey is taken to his grandpas base of operations, we see all the secrets that Sameal has hidden and then things happen with Brennan and we learn what fate has in store for him but then they are attacked by Enoch and we get interesting flashbacks of what happened with the five mages in the past to lead them to present and it was cool to see and then finally big things with Mikey happening as we learn the nature of Nevermind and then the big encounter between Kylen and Sameals side and its an epic fight and even has dragons and some crazy revelations, twists and big big things in the end!

I am loving the slow natured paced of the story and the action in the end is worth it. Also liking how Mikey fight sequences are drawn as it lends a gravitas to it. Plus the reveal at the end of the main villain and twists with him has my curiosity peaked.

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joshua Williamson and artist Andrei Bressan continues to be one of my favorite series being publish by Image. Williamson is definitely growing to become one the best new talents writing comics today. His run on the DC Comics character the Flash is not to be missed. Just read The Flash, Vol. 1: Lightning Strikes Twice. This story is filled with layer upon layer of secrets and surprises all throughout. In this volume of Birthright the Rhodes family has been separated and are being hunted by some powerful mages from the fantasy realm of Terrenos. We find that the grandfather of our main hero or antagonist depend on how you look at the story is actually originally from Terrenos. Mikey may be the chosen one or maybe he isn't as Williamson pulls the rug from underneath readers and drops an expected reveal before this volume ends. Pacing in the story is well done as Williamson slowly jumps readers between our world the past of the Terrenos. The artwork is really top notch and some of the best in the business. I mean a dragon shows up in the middle of this volume and I have to say it was one of the best moments in the series thus far. At the heart of all the amazing action scenes is a story about a family trying to stay together in the most extraordinary circumstances. I can not wait to read where Williamson will take the Rhodes next.

[RG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really loving this series. Artwork is fun. The world buidling just keeps on expanding. Not sure the story can last much longer though.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely had some momentum coming in from volume 3. Hit some plot quagmires around the 2/3 mark, in my view. It may be because the story is getting a little stretched or it may be setup for what’s to come.

Here’s hoping for the latter, not the former. Definitely an interesting ending.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
This Volume is full of action. Grandpa (who gets revealed as Sameal, a Mage from Terranos) takes his son and grandkids back to his secret lair so that Mikey can have time to heal. Enoch and Sameal reveal an elaborate backstory about how and why they came to our world and the forces of the other mages launch an assault. The real gem of this Volume is Brennan coming into his own as a mage. A "Healing spirit" is attached to him and helps him to learn and control his power, healing his brother (somewhat as Lore is still attached) and assisting in the battle.
This book has phenomenal art and is great fro character driven stories, but the time between 2 Volumes is ridiculous and leads me to vote it down a bit. Still recommend, but wish they'd come faster.

[Relstuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story continues to be engaging and one of the best modern comics in this genre.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this might have been my favorite volume so far. There was a ton of action as well as amazing artwork. I love the characters and some of the revelations. I can't wait to see what happens next!

[Scott Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was really cool seeing Brennan as a powerful mage and that their grandpa was one of the most powerful mages.
I almost don't believe that Mikey is not the chosen one. I am guessing that Mikey is a descendant of Lore's. I am also wondering if their dad also has some powers that will be discovered at a later time.

[Ramón S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

More fantastic fun and frolic, now with a random dragon!

Also, we get to see Lore for the first time. Seems like in his youth he had a striking resemblance to Mikey. Hmmm.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my review of Volume 3 I admitted to being hooked now after only giving a relatively generous and unenthusiastic 3 stars to both first volumes. This series art & action scenes are colorful and imaginative, and the story and dialogue continues to improve over time. They appear to be plotting each volume carefully enough to provide one big revelation for the climax of each volume. The parents are underdeveloped compared to the rest of the story-so-far after having anchored the beginning, but at this point they're both caught up in the story and hopefully will get their own moments to shine.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit better than the 3 previous books. The story is finally getting more interesting (what's going on outside of the Rhodes family drama ~ which is still my least favorite part). Seriously, I'd enjoy this series far more if it was just competing factions attempting to save Earth from Terrenos without all the manufactured drama of "but he's family" or "you were a bad father" or "I have to save my ---". Give me a solid Lore vs. Mages story with Mikey as the pivot without all of the family stuff that detracts from the main story, and I'd be thrilled.

[Bert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I sometimes feel I'm robbing this series, since the three stars I've been giving each of its TPBs do not convey much enthusiasm. But I cannot rate it four stars; that just feels too high. Perhaps because I lack an emotional connection, unlike, say, Saga?

Which is a shame, since there's plenty to admire: good plotting with well-paced reveals, plenty of actions, an impressively thought-through back story, and decent artwork.

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dark fantasy of two world continues as the dark world teetrs at the brink of entering the mundane one.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn was this volume good!

[Bill Coffin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a review for Birthright Vol. 1-7, which I read in one long blast. This is a modern fantasy story where a boy named Mikey gets mysteriously whisked away to a dark fantasy realm where he is tasked with fulfilling a prophecy to be the Chosen zone to defeat the God-King Lore. Meanwhile, Mikey’s family falls apart in the aftermath of the missing person case, so when Mikey magically reappears all grown up and transformed into a jacked Conan the Barbarian, talking about how he has to hunt down magical war criminals in this world, that’s when the story really begins.

The good here is that the art is often very pleasant to look at me does a good job of carrying the visual aspects of the story. And there are moments when the story flirts with breaking out of genre conventions, and make one think we’re about to get into seriously interesting territory.

The bad is the story never quite pulls that promise off, and the entire things feels really hidebound within a lot of fairly tired fantasy tropes. Add to that a family dynamic subplot that never feels that genuine, and bad guys who are fairly one-dimensional, and the end result is a story that after seven volumes feels like only two, because the story never really advances that much or make us care that much about the proceedings. An ongoing sub-story of flashbacks only reinforces the parts of the story that don’t exactly work, so the end result is something that had a lot of talent and promise within it, but it never quite gets over the edge into something that throws aside its various crutches.

At this point, it’s impossible to tell when the series intends to conclude, but honestly? After the first seven volumes, it doesn’t really matter. All we’ve been lead to expect going forward is more fighting/not fighting among Mikey and his brother, more awkward and forced family strife drama, and more talk about a fantasy world forever at war. It just feels like none of it really matters.

[jcw3-john · Rating 5 out of 5]

Considerable improvement over the last couple of volumes - we get some good family drama between Brennan, Aaron, and Sameal. Interestingly enough, Mikey is almost a nonentity in this volume, but that's not necessarily a problem - the focus on the exiled Mages and the rest of the Rhodes men is interesting enough to make up for it.

The Mages are such selfish assholes. They abandoned Terrenos to live lives of luxury on a paradise world and left millions of innocents behind to be mulched by Lore. Reading about these people abdicating their responsibility to go live comfortable lives while Lore ran roughshod over their homeworld - sickening. Kylen being the only one who protested the idea, even with all of his many flaws, was a good choice on Williamson's part - it gave him a lot more depth. I appreciated that.

I think Williamson's relying a biiiiit too much on having characters bluntly, and with a touch too much self-awareness, spell out their emotional perspectives. There's one scene with Aaron and Brennan especially, where Brennan talks about how he feels like Aaron values Mikey more than him, and how Aaron sees Brennan as an extension of Wendy, his mother, and it's just a bit too on the nose for my liking.

The women are still kind of being marginalized and pushed into the background - I'm not a complete evangelist for the idea that casts should be perfectly 50/50, but I can't help but notice that across 20 issues, the focus has been overwhelmingly on the male characters.

Splendid art from Andrei Bressan as usual, esp. in #20, the best of the bunch.

A-, 9/10 for this volume. 2 and 3 would probably be a B or a B-.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is for the first four trade volumes

It doesn’t take a lot for me to be into an alternate universe tale, and this one is unique and cool in which a missing child returns a year later, but a) as an adult b) who is effectively the conquering warrior of another realm. Of course, there’s a lot more to it with that, including evil corruption and a “primary” world unable to understand or control him.

The subplots about family and loyalty and such give the story the emotional weight it needs to matter, so the whole thing is constructed well on a whole. I’m really into everything going on here, but the way this is put together has a derivative quality and I never quite feel like they’re opting to pull the trigger on the big issue surrounding the story four volumes in.

This is solid with a lot of potential to be great, and at this point I’m ultimately looking forward to the payoff.

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sameal wants to heal his grandson Mikey from the Nevermind (Lore's essence), but the other mages are a threat too. They want Mikey dead to save the Earth. Brennan taps more and more into his own pool of magic, which comes in useful when he unwittingly separates the Nevermind from Mikey. He soon realizes the only way to keep Mikey alive is to reunites him with the Nevermind.

The mages forego their need to keep their existence a secret from the world. They mobilize an army to combat Mikey, but he is ready for them. He holds the horde back until Brennan releases Sameals's secret weapon - a dragon, no less! It only manages to delay Kylen's army. Sameal kills Enoch the mage and Mikey is captured, though this plays into his plan to get to Mastema.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Revisiting this series again after strong recommendations from others. I had to play a little catch up with the previous trade to see where I left off, and this picks up right after the events of vol 3. The plot was a bit decompressed and there was too much Deus Ex Machina, but it was enjoyable enough. I really admire the body horror, and it was a fun nod to pop culture to throw so many Easter eggs into grandpa's man-cave. I wish there was a page in the back explaining the source for each one, because I sure didn't recognize all of them!

[Doctor Action · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 3.5. Would be a 4 if it were more my genre. More crazy fantasy action. Several plot points are reframed by reveals here. Art continues to be ace. Still has heart and pace. By rights it shouldn't be this enjoyable, given the deeply fantastical / preposterous (delete as appropriate) premise but it's well done. I find myself still wanting more, which is more than I felt for Black Science at this stage. Good.

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Birthright vol 4 was a lot to take in between the emotional weight of this war and the consequences it bears for everyone involved. This is the kind of exploration that makes the world of Birthright so engaging. To be able to further explore Terrenos, the lives of those who live here, and their stakes in this war is a treat. Nonetheless, again no better time to be a fan of this world, story, and it's characters.

[Andrew Sorrentino · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wouldn't have gotten this far into the series if I was reading the single issues before they were collected. Cliffhangers at the end of the collections were enough of a tease at first but I won't read any more. I don't care for the dialogue and the character interactions are poor. The illustrations however are superb; very imaginative.

[Nicolas Ronvel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Les enjeux s'élèvent dans ce 4e tome, qui lève un gros voile sur les 5 sorciers qui ont fui Terrenos pour la Terre. Mais aussi sur d'autres éléments tout aussi importants.

Malgré ces révélations en grand nombre, l'action est au rendez-vous, et vire au massacre et à la bataille rangée. C'est dynamique, percutant, et toujours aussi bien dessiné.

On s'approche du final (j'espère).

[Natasha den Dekker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well there's a twist that no one saw coming on several fronts. As I said in my previous review each issue is better than the last and I'm so excited to see where this goes now! The fact that somehow the whole family is linked to Terranos (apart from Wendy) is great and also the introduction of the Mages and their backstory. It's all really sad and tragic and makes for GREAT READING!!

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ya no me siento interesado en los personajes y su camino. Todo se está volviendo una trama de telenovela con las revelaciones sobre líneas genéticas. El dibujo es muy bueno, excelente. Pero hay un límite en que tanto el diseño gráfico puede cargar el peso de una historieta. Hasta aquí leo esta serie.