Coffee Time With Olivia
Coffee Time with Olivia
Review #3
Created by: Emma Rios and Hwei Lim
Publisher: Image Comics, Inc.Well it’s about time Image came out with a title called “Mirror.” (Because mirror image. Get it?) Sorry, that was lame.
Mirror is part of the 8house universe, however it can be read as a stand-alone; which is what I am doing. It is indeed a page turner, and by page turner I mean I was flipping back and forth between pages to try and pick up details of the story I thought I missed as I was reading it. This might be a thing you will be doing too if you dive into this comic with zero context like I did; just a fair warning. This four part comic jumps right in with a complex and layered plot, almost as if it was meant for a longer run.
Having that said, the story is totally immersable and has a dreamlike, ethereal quality to it thanks to the watercolor artwork; which is totally appropriate for the story by the way. It also has a Sandman-esque vibe to it, which I like. The story centers around a mage named Ivan who is forced to research the humanlike animals of Irzah and how to replicate them. The story opens with a small backstory of young Ivan and his dog Sena. Sena’s anomolous development into a talking, more humanlike creature forces Ivan and Sena to run away together. Ivan gets caught by an elder mage Kazbek while Sena has been on the run then eventually joins the “Outsiders”; a group that uses guerilla tactics order to maintain their freedom. Their connection to each other will undoubtedly be important in the next coming issues.
I’ve read some strange and fantastical comics and Mirror is one of the most interesting and thought provoking ones I’ve read. It has a definite overtone of the significance of “what defines humanity” in the story. In fact, I’m not 100% sure what’s really going on. I can only speculate since the major plot points have only appeared in snippets so far. I would recommend that you read this comic if you like dreamlike fantasies ala Sandman (Gaiman) and Intersect (Fawkes).