Title: In Maps & Legends
Author: Mike Jasper
Artist: Niki Smith
Publisher: Unwrecked Press
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Summary: Kaitlin Grayson considers herself just an artist until she gets recruited by a strange man named Bartamus, who shows up at her place in the middle of the night and demands she use her skills to save his dying world. Soon Kait gets caught between two worlds, and if Bartamus’ world falls, Earth is next — along with untold other worlds.
Review: 4 1/2 stars ****
When writer Mike Jasper got in touch to ask if I’d be interested in reviewing his new digital comic series, In Maps & Legends, I jumped at the chance. A supernatural urban fantasy with steampunk elements? Come on, what’s not to like? Thankfully, the book (and the series itself) delivers just what it promised.
The basic plot goes something like this. Kaitlin is a newly single freelance artist who is stuck in the rut of creating cover art and interior maps for fantasy novels written by others. The pays great, but the work doesn’t speak to her creatively.
But at night, its a different story. Driven by some strange compulsion, Kait has been working long hours on an intricate, mixed-media map of a place she’s never been, a map that covers all four walls of the window-less spare room she keeps locked next to her tiny bedroom. She’s not sure where the inspiration for the map comes from, but she can’t seem to help herself.
One cold night, Kait is visited by a disheveled man named Bartamus who claims to be from another world. He needs her to finish a map of his dying world so he can use his skills to save it.
Jasper and Smith are a good team. The artwork supports the flow of the story and the story is custom tailored for this kind of art. I usually like my comics to be a bit more flashy, but something about the gritty vibe that Smith captures in her images is extremely well-suited for the tale the pair is telling. Jasper has captured the personality of his main character to a T and while we still don’t know too much about her by the end of issue one, we get a clear sense of the kind of person she is – a dreamer who longs to journey through the fantastic worlds she creates daily in her art. Lucky for us, Kait gets her wish.
It was no surprise to me to discover that this ten issue series won the November 2009 competition at Zuda, an imprint of DC Comics. When DC closed Zuda down, the pair wisely decided to make a go of it on their own, building on the success they’ve had to date and I’m glad they did. Right now the comic is available in a range of digital formats, including iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad versions, plus versions for the Droid phone, Kindle, Nook, and the Web, as well as downloadable PDF formats. They even have a German version available!
A new 22 page issue will be released every six weeks, with the first story arc ending in late 2011. Each issue sells for just $0.99, which is an incredible bargain for the sophisticated fantasy tale you’re getting. If you’re a comic fan, I urge you to give it a try. You can read the first eight pages and get more information at the official In Maps & Legends website.
Here’s a list of some of the places where you can get the first two issues:
You can check out the German versions at:
- Amazon’s US Kindle Store – German version (Kindle format)
- Amazon’s UK Kindle Store – German version (Kindle format)
- Barnes & Noble – German version (Nook ePub format)
