By Cat Wyatt

Coda is a new series by BOOM! Studios. It’s about a man named Hum who’s on an epic quest to save his wife. It’s described as being perfect for fans of Mad Max and Lord of the Rings, which may very well be true (I don’t know about the Mad Max bit, being as I still haven’t gotten around to seeing it, but I can at least vouch for the Lord of the Rings part). It’s a post-apocalyptic world involving magic, wastelands, oh and did I mention that the main character has a pentacorn (picture a unicorn but with five horns instead of the usual one).

So Coda starts off…in a unique manner. So please, if you’re confused, or a bit put off at first, bear with me (and it) and give it a chance to catch your attention. Here we find our hero (okay, I don’t actually know if hero is the correct term for Hum, but I’m running with it) climbing inside the bones of a dead…something? It’s monstrous in size. Also, it’s screaming at him to get out. That’s a first for me! The skeleton keeps going on and on about rats in its bowels…I’m still not sure if it was calling Hum a rat, or if it was trying to get Hum to help clean out an infestation. Frankly, I don’t think I want to know the answer to that one.

Apparently magical immortal creatures are only immortal in the strictest sense. Their souls/spirits stick around, and they can even stay with their body…but their body can totally be killed. Good to know.

Anyway, the whole reason Hum was there was to apparently collect some magical artifacts from inside the body. I’m not sure how those would naturally end up there (unless the creature had consumed or worn them while alive?) but it’s pretty odd.

It’s also a trap. A bandit had the brilliant idea to plant tempting items inside the body, knowing full well that it would make a large enough racket when somebody went for them that he’d hear it for miles. Thus giving him plenty of time to show up and mug the poor sap. This actually sounds like way too much work for minimal gain, but what do I know?

I did learn something new. A bandit does not stand a chance against an angry pentacorn. That is unless the natural state for this particular bandit is a paste-like form, which I highly doubt.

After that little adventure Hum finds himself in a small village (I guess that would be the correct term, considering the state of things). Here he naturally finds himself quickly wrapped up in a larger plot. You see, the city is besieged by giants every full moon. Their only weapon against the giants is their canons; they can easily supply the magic for the canons, but not the metals. They need help getting their hands on metal, and fast.

The irony of this situation? The giants are attracted to the magic they’re storing. So the giants follow the magic, forcing the city to use magic to protect itself. The simple solution seems to be that they should give up their magic – thus no longer attracting the giants (at least that is my understanding of the situation). I guess they’re too proud and/or stubborn to do that however.

Which is why Hum got sent out to raid some of their enemies for metal. It doesn’t take long for it to become obvious that Hum has an alternative motive for all of this. I mean, why would he help a city he owes no allegiance to? They’re not going to pay him for doing this, in exchange for his work he’d literally get more work (read: he’d be made a knight of their city).

The thing is Hum actually has a pretty big need for the magic they have in their possession. And before you get defensive of the city, let me remind you that technically speaking they’re endangering themselves by having said magic. There’s also so much more going on here than meets the eyes, and it gets pretty dark.

During this whole issue all of the thought boxes were drawn to look like letters being drawn, which is actually pretty accurate. Hum is constantly writing letters to his wife; his wife not being where he is (and supposedly needing to be rescued by him…thus the reason he needs to get his hands on so much magic). This was a really nice touch, if you ask me. It’s sweet to think about him writing letters to her every night. However, the sweetness of it all makes me concerned that she isn’t actually in danger. She may be dead (and he’s tricking himself here), or she may have willingly left. Needless to say, I’m anxious to learn more about her and her situation.

This was a really intriguing start to a new series. At first I didn’t think I was going to enjoy it (I actually put it down two pages in for a break before I continued), but once I got into the swing of things I found myself really invested in the world being developed here. I was absolutely shocked and horrified by the end revelation, which means they did their job right. I wonder how much of the rest of the world is just as twisted as that.

Score: 4/5

Coda #1
BOOM! Studios