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Briar #1
- Writer:
- Christopher Cantwell
- Artist:
- Germán García
- Letterer:
- AndWorld Design
- Cover Artist:
- Germán García
- Publisher:
- BOOM! Studios
- Price:
- $4.99
- Release Date:
- 2022-09-28
- Colorist:
- Matheus Lopes
Fairy tales, by nature, imbue magic and heart into a contrived fable set in fantastical lands far away, often inspired by folklore. Almost all of them have a happily ever after, with the audience never getting to see the after story or hear the same account from a different point of view. Thankfully, writer Christopher Cantwell gives a new spin to the story of Sleeping Beauty, who never got her happy ending. With artwork from Germán García and Matheus Lopes and letters from AndWorld Design, Briar #1 from BOOM! Studios wanders off into uncharted territory.
Briar #1 opens like any other fairy tale: a wondrous kingdom with joyous subjects thanking their monarchy for the peace that is sweeping through the lands. The focus of their love is the charming princess Briar Rose, who lives her life adored by her parents and fairy godmothers. However, darkness falls when Princess Briar goes into a deep slumber. As time passes, the King engages in blood and conquest, and slowly the province falls into despair and withers. When Briar finally wakes from her century-long slumber, she finds the world much changed, filled with rabid mutant rodents, cunning slave traders, and desert-dwelling cannibals who have all forgotten about the old kingdom.
The opening montage of Briar #1 paints a flowery picture of the past, recounting the life and times of the princess in her own words. This entire first passage gives a taste of the coming string of events and cuts through the lovey-dovey imagery like a hot knife through butter. Christopher Cantwell makes the story progressively darker, grounding it in a slowly forming reality of his own creation that forgoes the formulaic approach of a bygone era. Soon, the princess turns into a survivor, but old royal habits are hard to kill. In this rewritten history, danger hides in every nook and cranny as Briar keeps her inquisitiveness at her side to prevent her from falling into despair.
Matheus Lopes' colors add fire to Germán García's baroque-esque illustrations. From clean, minimalistic lines that fall easy on the eyes to soft glowing colors that fill the panels in a cozy shade of ocher, the opening few pages ornament the book with a quintessential fairy tale glow-up. Everything takes a turn after the princess wakes up, and the artwork instantly becomes cruder and more entrenched in gritty inkwork. A slew of violently vivid colors replaces the yellow tones of the flashback, turning the book more dramatic as the story progresses. Letterer AndWorld Design does an excellent job of juggling the fonts, from enchanting narration to unintelligible screaming that still retains certain identifiability in its patterns.
Briar #1 is an invigorating ride till the last page, for its thrill lies in its uncertain storytelling. Fairy tales often become stagnant after years of recounting, which is why retellings are a fun-filled affair, for there is room for improvement and character development outside their demarcated roles. The most interesting aspect of Cantwell's writing here is that he builds upon the premise while respecting the source material, making it seems like a natural extension in a what-if style execution. Briar #1 ends as it began, with a harrowing narration, but somehow feels more optimistic this time, presaging things to come for the series.