Slogging Towards Destiny:
Tales of Pylea, reviewed by Anthony R. Cardno

I have a friend who abandons almost every webcomic project he starts, complaining that his latest awesome idea has already been done by someone else, that he can’t seem to find a truly original concept he can call his own.  I’ve told him several times that, as the saying goes, there are no “new” story concepts – that what he needs to worry about is putting his own spin on a concept and exploring where it takes him.  That’s what webcomics (and novels) are all about now: finding a twist to an old story rather than finding a new story to tell.

Tales of Pylea is an excellent example of how hard that can be.  At its most basic, it’s just a reiteration of a story that has been around as long as spoken language:  the Quest of a young hero to find something or someone, which leads him to his destiny. In this case, the young hero is F’Nor.  At sea on a more personal quest (to find his long-missing father), he has a chance encounter with the beautiful Arianhod. The young lady is being chased by a powerful being named Uthnar.  It only takes a few pages to set up the core triangle, as F’Nor’s personal quest becomes a subplot to a larger quest (for three powerful artifacts).

Pylea is a fairly standard fantasy world:  medieval-level society and technology (the fastest form of transportation is still a horse; the longest-reaching hand weapon is still a bow and arrows), replete with walled villages of thatch-roofed huts, open farmland and dark forests with dangerous creatures.  Magic exists but does not seem to be commonplace (although all three main characters and several supporting characters appear to have strong magickal connections).  Series creator and artist Aimee Chow has developed Pylea over a number of years and pretty much hits all the standard tropes as far as world development goes.  She veers a little from the standard by making the worst monsters in the physical world a band of vampires (who seem to be able to walk in daylight with no problem,) a nice change from orcs.  There are Elves, but they seem more warrior-minded than ethereal.  There are also gods who seem to be more real than they are myth.  And of course there’s a larger threat that will put the good guys to the test and help the bad guys to succeed – in this case, a race of demons from another world.

And there’s the twist, of a sort: what starts out as a standard fantasy of good striving against the return of a Big Evil begins to evolve facets of Judeo-Christian story (the big bad is a fallen god, aligned with demons; the young hero has a mysterious past and demons are afraid to speak his name) that may lead the characters, and the reader, in some unexpected directions.

The art, unfortunately, is hit or miss.  More recent pages fare better thanks to the coloring work of Alice Fox (such as this sunset), a strong addition to the team of creators.  But many of the pencilled pages look rushed (and Chow admits as much in quite a few author’s notes).  When she takes the time to really strengthen her initial pencils, pages pop with energy.

The story itself drags a bit.  Chapter One is way too long considering how much shorter the subsequent chapters are.  Part of this seems to be the result of a rotating crew of script-writers that Chow has brought on board to help her with dialogue, which seems to have resulted in quite a few long sections of exposition.  Exposition is necessary sometimes, of course.  Current writer Matt Summers seems to have a stronger concept of how to get information across while allowing his artist to do what she does best: draw scenes that are more than just talking heads.

I’m going to give Tales of Pylea three stars, mostly on the strength of where it could go than on where it’s been.  F’Nor is slogging towards his destiny, Arianhod is moving towards hers, and Uthnar is … well, he’s got an agenda too.  If the creators can pick up the pace and put together some more consistent art, TOP could be a series to watch. Rating:

Tales of Pylea

http://talesofpylea.com

by Aimee Chow and Matt Summers

review by Anthony Cardno

(3 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)

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