Review - The Autumnlands: Tooth and Claw #3

This Image series, written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by Ben Dewey, has been largely absorbed with world-building for the past two issues, establishing a world of anthropomorphic animals stratified into an overclass and underclass by their respective levels of access to magic. The magic, however, is running out, and a last desperate attempt to recover the mysterious champion - believed to be the source of magic - from the depths of history destroyed the floating city our protagonists had lived on in issue 1.

In issue 2, the champion was revealed to be a human in the Conan mold.

Now, in issue 3, the world-building is set aside somewhat to deal with the more pressing question of how - even with the reluctant champion at their side - the former residents of the floating city can possibly survive surrounded by the hostile ground-dwelling underclasses they once oppressed and without the magic that once granted them their supremacy.

Busiek and Dewey quietly subvert the Conan tropes by making their hero eminently practical. He refuses the enormous sword he is offered by his animal hosts in favor of a smaller and more maneuverable one, and while he is clearly physically fit, he is hardly a Swarzeneggerian superman. Spoiler warning - hints are also dropped that he is a latter-day soldier, though his access to technology beyond that even of the modern day implies the possibility of some sort of alternate or future timeline scenario.

Yet more intrigue is promised with the first hints of a schism between the survivors, which should provide a great deal of grist for the plot mill going forward.

The art by Ben Dewey continues to impress, with an impressive and slightly unsettling knack for fitting an extraordinary variety of animals into anthropomorphic frames to the point where the actual human frequently seems less relatable than some of the dogs, owls, etc. he is placed next to.

This is the best issue of the series so far, finally striking a perfect balance between constructing the fictional universe and telling a compelling story within it. The series has finally hit its stride, and I will definitely be back for the next issue.