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‘Little Guardians: Volume 2 – Bandits and Betrayers’ – Trade Paperback Review

Little Guardians: Volume 2 – Bandits and Betrayers opens in media res, partway through the attempted robbery of Verdo the Whole-Saler by a group of unidentified ruffians, setting the reader up to expect troubles for Verdo (now with only half of his stock), as well as the return of the ruffians and the treat of lawlessness they bring. Good thing for Subira’s mentor and guide who expertly cons their way out of the village for Guardian training, so that Subira can earn her spirit orb. Or, this is the story that is forecast in the opening pages; we don’t get much exploration of Subira and her story in this installment. Instead, we get a bit of movement in her storyline. She is well on her way to Guardian training by the end!—and a lot of stage-setting in her home village of Yowza that helps to build stakes for her eventual, triumphant return.

The stage-setting that I name above happens in the form of the entry of an outsider. Voss, the Guardian of a neighboring village and acquaintance of Tane’s, arrives in Yowza on a seemingly innocuous errand … only to act as a direct threat to Tane, his Guardian-in-training son Idem, and the village of Yowza as a whole.

Volume two of Little Guardians is suspenseful and expertly crafted. The creators have a clear sense of narrative pacing (By the end of chapter 5, I was eager to return to Subira’s storyline, but not frustrated by the lengthy interruption.) and use line and color as useful accents to the storyline. Especially interesting in this series is the use of wordless pages; whole battle scenes occur without words, and sometimes without color, which really forces the reader to slow down and appreciate the images rather than rushing through the narrative text. I’m excited to see what happens in Volume 3, and I’m rooting for Subria and her training.

Creative Team: Ed Cho (writer), Lee Cherolis (artist), Lee Cherolis, Dan Tincher, Jose Vasquez (colorists)
Publisher: Scout Comics
Click here to purchase.

Jocelyn Sakal Froese, Fanbase Press Guest Contributor

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