MAEVE #1, from Red 5 Comics on December 7th, 2022, recounts the early years of Queen Maeve of Ireland as a young woman on the cusp of becoming a warrior and leader among her people.
The Details
- Written by: Kevin Corcoran, Cris Seixas
- Art by: Caio Mojado
- Colors by: Dinei Ribeiro
- Letters by: Zen
- Cover art by: Caio Mojado (cover A)
- Cover price: $5.95
- Release date: December 7, 2022
Is It Good?
MAEVE #1 takes a little-explored part of European history and dives in to create an epic adventure filled with intrigue, action, and a growing sense of legacy for the main character who would one day become Queen. If you’re a fan of historical fiction that leans more on the historical than the fiction, there’s a lot to like in this comic. However, the overall reading experience is bogged down by uneven pacing, disjointed, clunky dialog, and terrible scene transitions.
Kevin Corcoran and Cris Seixas’s script excels at drawing you into the kingdom of Turoe with its array of unique characters – from kings to warriors to healers to townsfolk. The names, costumes, and locales all carry an air of authenticity to the location and timeframe in which the story is set. If nothing else, you can appreciate the work put into making this story as true to life as possible.
That said, this comic is presented as a story, and it’s in the elements of storytelling where this issue stumbles the most.
The dialog is painfully bloated and unnatural sounding, little scenes pop in and out of nowhere with no transition or setup, and the plot is a patchwork of events that get Maeve from A to B with very little sense of direction. Maeve is the focus of this issue, but she reacts to events going on around her rather than taking the lead in her own story. You get the impression the creators and editors lost track of the line between recounting historical facts and the pieces needed to tell a story.
In fairness, Maeve is an interesting character, and her story has great potential. The flaw lies in the execution.
The story might be a mess, but Mojado and Ribeiro’s art is great. The lines are crisp and clean, the action sequences are well done, and the coloring work is excellent.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with Princess Maeve, her younger brother, and a collection of youths from Turoe as they set out on a rite-or-passage night hunt to bring back a boar. The hunt is meant to prove the youths are ready to be warriors for their king and kingdom. When the group heads out, they trek through the later hours until they find a pack of boars. Suddenly, the pack runs off when a giant bear appears, looking for a meal.
Maevestays behind to distract the bear and kill it while the others run for safety. When the fight is done, Maeve passes out due to her injuries and hears the voices of spirits warning her to prepare for great hardship and great challenges.
Meanwhile, a Turo border patrol is ambushed by an unknown force, portending the start of an invasion and war. When Maeve returns to camp with the bear’s head, she decides to make haste back to Turoe. We conclude the issue with a “graduation,” the handing down of a legacy, and preparations.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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MAEVE #1 leans heavily on historical facts and accuracy but loses its way when it comes to telling a clear, concise, engaging story. The art looks great, but the dialog is a slog, the pacing is uneven, and the plot crams too many scenes together without any sense of narrative flow.
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