THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT: FEARLESS #1 – Review

In THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT: FEARLESS #1, available from American Mythology on November 4th, 2020, Bowen Tyler and Lys La Rue resign themselves to life (and marriage) on the prehistoric island of Caspak where savage beasts and primitive proto-men lurk to snatch fresh prey.

The Details

• Written By: Mike Wolfer
• Art By: Fritz Casas
• Colors By: Periya Pellai
• Letters By: Natalie Jane
• Cover Art By: Roy Allan Martinez, Periya Pellai
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Release Date: November 20, 2020

Was It Good?

If you love Edgar Rice Burroughs fiction and all the pulp stories of the same era, this comic is amazing. We coined a phrase in the Moon Maid review and it applies equally well here: “Perfect Pulp”

The writing borrows all the deep references to Burroughs’ original novel and crafts the beginning of a faithful sequel for Bowen and Lys. The vernacular, or voice, of the period for the narration and the way the characters talk feels authentic to the period, and that’s the key — authenticity.

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The art style is still in line with modern comic art, but the character and animal designs respectfully follow the imagination of Burroughs’ work. Hungry beasts are terrifyingly massive, and the strange tribes our protagonists encounter have a sense of culture that’s specific to each species.

If you’re a Burroughs fan, you will love this comic.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

We pick up almost shortly after the conclusion of the original novel. Bowen Tyler and Lys La Rue are marooned on the prehistoric island of Caspak near the Antarctic Circle. They’ve cast a note in a water-tight thermos in the slim hope that it will be found someday and the reader will come to rescue them.

Soon, Bowen and Lys decide if they’re to be trapped on Caspak forever, they’ll live out their days as husband and wife. They settle into a calm but wary life on Caspak, never letting their guard down against the dangers hiding around every corner.

One day, they happen upon a pack of scavengers that look like oversized hyenas. Bowen and Lys run and make it as far as a cliff’s edge that drops to a deep gorge below. Their only hope is to swing across on some vines, but what they don’t realize is that some of the vines are actually spider web threads. Bowen gets snared, and his struggling vibrations alert a giant spider the size of an elephant down on them.

Lys manages to shoot one of the spider’s legs to scare it off. It’s a tense scene that shows just how quickly things on Caspak can go from bad to very bad in an instant. Wolfer does a phenomenal job trapping Bowen and Lys in exaggerated dangers that could only happen on this island without making the escapes too easy or too difficult to believe.

On another occasion, which is the big setup for this arc, Bowen and Lys are confronted by a group of Alus, primitive humanoids closer to a gorilla than a man. Lys manages to find a hiding spot and escape after killing one of the Alu, but Bowen is captured and carried off.

Lys follows the Alus to find a means of rescue when she encounters a group of Alus who’ve killed another group of natives, the more human like Galu. Only a single female is left alive and she’s fighting the Alus off as best as she can when Lys joins the fight. The girl is called Co-tan and she vows to help Lys find Bowen and get revenge against the Alus who killed her tribe.

We conclude the issue with Lys and Co-tan on an impressive tracking journey when they encounter a guardian in the swamp.

How Does It End?

The disturbed mud shows the way. Lys and Co-tan find hatched eggs. Beware the Outcast Daughter of Luata.

Final Thoughts

THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT: FEARLESS #1 takes everything magical about the original Edgar Rice Burroughs story and continues the journey in creative yet faithful ways. The art is bright and imaginative, and the writing feels authentic on every level.

Score: 9.5/10