Title: Shades of Magic.
Story-arc: The Steel Prince.
Volume: 1.
Writer(s): V.E. Schwab.
Illustrator(s): Andrea Olimpieri.
Colourist(s): Enrica Eren Angiolini, Viviana Spinelli & Cassandra Peirano.
Letterer(s): Rob Steen.
Publisher: Titan Comics.
Format: Paperback.
Release Date: March 6th 2019.
Pages: 112.
Genre(s): Comics, Fantasy.
ISBN13: 9781785865879.
My Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆.
One of the coolest things about comic books is that it allows stories to take a life of its own. The artwork is a gateway that presents readers to live through their own personal reading experience and draw their own conclusions of what they witness before them. The fact that every reader can have their own interpretation of events gives the medium an edge that traditional stories don’t possess. Without completely leaving readers to their imagination, the artwork guides readers and offers them a better idea of how everything unfolds, especially how the creators envisioned their universe. With the fantasy genre, the opportunity is golden and is a wonderful substitute to live-action movie/TV series and animation. This is what brings V.E. Schwab to jump on this occasion and delivers fans a prequel to her critically-acclaimed Shades of Magic trilogy.
What is Shades of Magic: The Steel Prince about? Collectings issues #1-4, the story focuses on the young, foolish and arrogant prince Maxim Maresh. Known as the king of Red London and the adoptive father of Kell in The Darker Shade of Magic, he is now explored in his days as a prince when he is sent by his father in a violent port city on the Blood Coast of Verose to sharpen his military skills and develop his leadership abilities. In hopes that field experience will teach his son a lesson, this adventure will not be one without its fair share of bloodshed. Upon his arrival, he runs into a reckless band of soldiers that leads him to build new relationships and to further understand the complicated landscape in which he finds himself. What he doesn’t know yet is that he wouldn’t be the only ruler in this playground. The arrival of the pirate queen Arisa will throw him into a dangerous clash filled with old rivalries and ancient history.
There is a lot to appreciate in V.E. Schwab’s first excavation in the realm of comic books although there is a lot of room for improvement. With only four issues in this first volume, one of the most inevitable problems is the pacing. Unless you’ve had your share of laughs and tears with the Shades of Magic trilogy, the universe in Shades of Magic: The Steel Prince barely takes the time to portray the universe outside of Red London. On top of that, the transition between panels can be outragedly confusing and rapid to the point where confusion remains the main emotional status for the reader as he tries to understand the events that unfold, especial during the magic-filled action sequences. In fact, the magic system remains one of Schwab’s forte but with the visual story-telling that she attempts to capitalize on here, there’s a certain difficulty in understanding how exactly some of the powers work and what exactly is going on.
To complicate things a bit more, the artwork turns out to be a double-edged sword. It’s particularly dark and plays a bit excessively with shadows, but allows Schwab to have her story told in a unique and sinister style. It doesn’t help when the transition from a panel to another feels choppy and gives the reader the impression that there are events that occur but aren’t shared with them. Consequently, this also accelerates the pacing of the story and never truly allows the reader to feel immersed in this universe and to establish any significant relationship with any of the characters. Rest assured, there are however characters that will inevitably intrigue you, especially prince Maxim Maresh and guard Isra. Fans of Schwab’s Shades of Magic universe will fall in love with the opportunity to discover the history behind these characters in their younger and flamboyant days. Its shorter length and choppy story-telling are just obstacles that will have to be lived with.
Shades of Magic: The Steel Prince is a dark and enjoyable endeavor in visual story-telling for V.E. Schwab and allows fans to dive back in a beloved universe in all of its colourful and mischievous glory.
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy for review!
Roars and Echoes 
I’ve been really curious about this, Lashaan. Too bad it didn’t quite work, although I can see why, maybe Schwab’s story is so detailed that the comic format might not be the best.
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I was curious to see what the transition from novel to comics would be like too. It’s not bad, but it could’ve been more, if given more room to work with too. I’m excited to see what the live-action will be like though! 😁
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Does this new format herald a new age of snobs?
We go from:
“Yeah, the movie was good, but the book was better.”
To:
“Yeah, the graphic novelization was good, but the book was better.”
Or vice versa?!?
Just kidding. This is an interesting concept, bold chance, and I like the visualization.
Why not do comic versions of novels? They do not have to be for everybody; so long as there is an audience, then it seems like a worthwhile enterprise.
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Hahahah I think there will always be some people who will think like that, unfortunately! L
It’s cool that authors are exploring the comic book medium and giving people the opportunity to try the medium for once. There are indeed a lot of comic versions of novels (King’s Dark Tower series or Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Tome, for example). They usually aren’t praised as much as their novel counterparts hahah
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I think I’ll enter this world through the books… I have the first one, but just need to find the time around these epics I’ve got lined up.
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Yep, I think it’s best to dive into the trilogy before the comics and the comics when you need a dose of that universe!
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I would love to read this one. Nice review 🙂
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I hope you do get the chance to try it out, Scarlett! Thank you for reading! 😀
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Great review for this book Lashaan, I read the first part of this The Steel Prince graphic novel and I want to read the rest (because obviously I’m a massive fan of V.E. Schwab) but even just from that small excerpt I get what you mean about the pacing. I mean maybe going into The Steel Prince knowing the world and having that world building from the trilogy will help me enjoy it more. I definitely want to learn more about Maxim and I’m always willing to get more from the Shades of Magic world. 🙂
Again great review. ❤
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Thank you so much, Beth! I’m glad to hear that you picked up the first issue. It really does feel off in pacing. Fans of the trilogy will definitely be glad to get more but it won’t be anything like the original trilogy hahah I’m still curious to find out how things will go for Maxim and friends in volume 2! 😁
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I should really keep up more – I loved the Shades of Magic series but I had no idea these existed. It’s a shame they didn’t live up to expectations – perhaps graphic novel writing is a skill Schwab doesn’t have down yet.
I do get kind of irritated with prequels that assume a lot of knowledge up front. It feels like a missed opportunity to further develop the world she’d set up in the first books of the series.
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I mean, it’s not the worse thing in the world but it definitely could’ve been better. The real problem is that the creative team behind this project didn’t give the story enough room to work with. With only 4 issues, it just felt sped up.
Well, you can read this without any knowledge of the Shades of Magic trilogy since it explores a world outside of Red London, but it doesn’t fully develop it, if you ask me. 😬
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That’s a really interesting perspective. It’s not like a publisher to do LESS issues than necessary, haha.
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Thank you so much for sharing this review, Lashaan! ❤ I really love the Shades of Magic series, but I'm not a big comics reader, so I wasn't sure about picking up that one. I'm a little sad that it didn't live up to your expectations and that it felt a little choppy, at times. Thank you for sharing! I'll have to think a little more about it before actually picking it up 🙂
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Thank YOU for reading, Marie! 😉 I totally understand the fear of trying this or having high expectations for it, but it’s not that bad. If you’re curious enough, it’s totally worth trying out, but you should expect some issues in the way the story evolves/is told. Hope you do enjoy it, even a little, if you ever decide to try it out! 😁
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I had seen that one on your IG account Lashaan! Fantastic review 😉
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Hahah yes! I saw that you saw! 😁😁 Thanks for reading, Sophie! ☺️
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Great honest review! I’m sorry this didn’t meet your expectations! I haven’t read Shades of Magic of series yet but I’m hoping to binge it this year.
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Thanks, Raven! I totally recommend diving into the trilogy before trying the comic book prequel though! Hope you enjoy them all! 😁
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I’m so curious about this prequel- but it’s good to know that this was so confusing and that there’s room for improvement. It’s a bit of a shame about the artwork being a double edged sword as well. Great review!
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It’s great for fans since they’re more likely to enjoy it as an extension but it still has flaws in its format. Maybe once the run is done it will be appreciated better as a whole rather than for each volume. 😀 Thank you!
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