Status Updates From Helen of Wyndhorn

Notes:
(1) So, do we get any answers? Kind of—but no...
- It was a very "who cares?" final issue.
- Perhaps the big reveal would have actually meant something if it was the least bit foreshadowed or set up—but no...
(2) What this boils down to is truly exceptional art illustrating a lamentably vacuous plot, and therefore elevating it well past what it by all means deserves.

Notes:
(1) If Tom King ever writes a story NOT about lonely and depressed characters, I'll be there for it.
- In the meantime, loneliness and depression is what we get.
- I could do with some magic and fantasy in this supposed fantasy tale.
(2) In a story about a hidden sword-and-sorcery realm, the most dramatic and intriguing aspect is the ultimate fate of audio cassettes.

Notes:
(1) My main problem here is the trips into the fantasy realm don't mean anything.
- They're important in that they happen, but having no mission nor clear purpose means they're just fantasy gibberish.
(2) I like how the audio cassette interviews are being passed person to person.
- It's very Elder Wand, and sort of depicts analog media as relics of a pre-digital age.

Notes:
(1) So, it seems like the "present day" of this story is creeping forward in time, I suppose, until it reaches the actual present day.
(2) Helen recounts her journey to Lilith, who's been recounting this to Tom.
- The issue's essentially an oral history flashback within an oral history flashback.
(3) This went a lot quicker than before—more eventful and less baroque.

Notes:
(1) I hadn't planned on updates for every issue, and I still might not, but this is so dense that a break in between for reflection and assessment isn't the worst idea.
(2) Slower and less eventful than the first issue, but this establishes a clear narrative framework.
- The story's actually one long oral history flashback (like "Titanic") with the present day ~1990.

Notes:
(1) I've not read a ton of Tom King, but I've read enough to know that his true talent is in attracting top-tier artists to bring life to his nothing-special stories.
- This is super dense and wordy, like reading a Victorian novel.
(2) Evely's art is the star of the show—a real turn-of-the-century aesthetic.
- At times very Alphonse Mucha, at times very Sidney Paget.

Notes:
(1) So, I'm only reading this because I like Bilquis Evely's art. Otherwise, I can take or leave Tom King, and the story's not really something I'm naturally inclined to read.
- The whole barbarian pulp x semi-portal fantasy sounds a lot like a storyline from Mark Millar's "The Magic Order," though I'm sure it's completely different.
- Really, I have no expectations.