HEATHEN #5
Once again Aydis finds herself alone. Now she must journey to the elusive place known as Heimdall, the living gateway to the land of the gods. To get there, she must brave the treacherous waters of the Northern Sea. But hiring a ship proves trickier than she imagined.
Review: Vault’s Heathen #4 Has Loss, Bravery, Hope, and Queer Love →
Tia Vasiliou, aka “Lou” from the comiXologist podcast crew, recommends Natasha Alterici’s HEATHEN #4 from Vault Comics this month for @themarysue
Check out the Indie LGBTQ Pride sale, featuring the acclaimed Fresh Romance @rosypress, Smut Peddler @ironcircuscomics, Heathen by Natasha Alterici and dozens more!
A comiXologist Recommends (a Viking odyssey)
Creator - Natasha Alterici
Vikings, Immortals, and forbidden love are the driving forces of this new independent release from comiXology Submit. Heathen tells the story of a lonely Viking warrior named Aydis, who has been exiled from her home for her differences and is on a quest to prove her love and true courage above all others. It really is so sweet. And that can be meant in the different ways “sweet” can be taken. The ending of Volume 1 left me feeling both “warm & fuzzy” and outright “pumped up” for violence.
Aydis is a warrior who was driven from her home by prejudice and small-minded leadership. Her loving father was given a choice to kill her or marry her off.
He chose to kill her, because marrying her off would essentially enslave her to someone Aydis can’t actually love completely, if at all. Aydis is a lesbian, of which her father is aware, and instead of killing her he simply made it look like he had! In order to redeem her honor, Aydis set off on a quest to free the Valkyrie queen, Brynhild. With her trusty steed Saga, Aydis will not be prevented from her destiny.
Alterici’s book sets the stage for a very violent conflict with the Viking God Odin. The conclusion of Volume 1 filled my heart with a pitter-patter I usually get when I watch extremely well choreographed violence. I read the last page of Volume 1 a couple of days ago, and I’m still geeking out about Aydis. She is a badass. I just want to talk about the last page of this book so bad!
Natasha Alterici is my new favorite writer/creator with this first trade. Her writing of her heroine Aydis sets a nice standard to which writers of female protagonists should always aspire to: Make ALL your protagonists well-rounded people. Her use of the Norse mythology is just spectacular and is used in a way that sort of skews how we normally view most of it. I hate having to leave things short, but much more detail or analysis and there won’t be much book left to read.
Give this one a pass and you’ll be missing one of the best new independent titles of the new year. I on the other hand will be waiting with wide (impatient) eyes to know what becomes of Aydis in the next installment.
(Check out our preview of Heathen here)
Matthew Burbridge is a Digital Editor at comiXology. He was planning on playing his annual play-through of LoZ: Ocarina of Time but he found a copy of The Minish Cap for GBA, so he’s probably gonna do that first. But he isn’t certain yet, so don’t expect him to know what you’re talking about if it has to do with The Minish Cap.
Unless you want to talk about the art direction. Minish Cap art direction is the cutest thing ever.
A comiXologist Recommends (their favorite comics of 2015)
Mike R’s picks
Favorite Issues:
Constantine: The Hellblazer #6
I was incredibly hesitant about this series from the get go, but issue one sold me and #6 ended up being one of the best comics I read all year. This issue in specific was a perfect combination of comedy, internal strife, monsters from within the shadows, and a wonderful bearded man—which is something very hard to come by in most comics, as far as I’m concerned. Constantine: The Hellblazer #6 is wonderful in art and writing and a perfect topper to the first arc of this series and one of the best comics of 2015.
Heathen #1
This book hit me like a ton of bricks. The cover, alone, was something to drool over, and reading the first few pages, it only gets better. A story about a Norse warrior cast out from her family who looks to redeem herself by saving a princess trapped on a mountain is a story I can get behind any day, and this book delivers a great end that hooks you immediately. This is one of those books I will buy until the day I die—and I hope it is published for that long. Natasha Alterici is a one-person-machine of brilliance, and this book is proof of her fantastic work.
Favorite Series that ended:
Iron Fist: The Living Weapon
There isn’t much to say here other than: This book was epic.
Zero
This book had a very satisfying end and I have to credit the MANY creators (specifically artists) who worked on this series for developing an incredible story over 18 issues. Special high-fives go out to Jordie Bellaire who colored the whole series.
Favorite Mini-series:
Godzilla in Hell
Godzilla goes to Hell and fights everything. What more do you need to know?
Favorite New Series:
Archie
Have you ever needed a breath of fresh air? Try the new Archie series. It’s happy and fun and angsty, but mostly fun and happy.
Paybacks
The question of, “Where do super heroes/villains get their money from?” is the basis of this new Dark Horse series, and boy does it deliver. Who lends the money? We don’t know. Who collects the money? Well, the Paybacks, of course—a mix bag of heroes and villains who owe a debt. A perfect mix of action and comedy (with a dash of mystery, because that’s cool too) drives this series and, well, it’s just plain fun. (editor’s note- this series is colored by Lauren Affe, a former comiXologist, so you know it’s good)
Favorite Covers:
Mike Rapin is a web developer at comiXology living in Queens with his girlfriend and two (sadistic and needy) cats—Twix and KitKat. He is also the host of the I Read Comic Books podcast—a weekly podcast about, you guessed it, comic books.