Zeb Larson reviews The Autumnlands #11…
Who are the Galateans? And why are they a threat to the Autumnlands?
This issue of The Autumnlands deals with the monster from last issue and also introduces a heretofore unseen group: the Galateans. Regarding the Galateans, the rug is pulled out from under our feet a few times in the course of the issue. It raises more questions about the Autumnlands, and more importantly, Learoyd’s role in helping to create this world. After all, the Galateans are the only other thing in this world (that we know of) to resemble Learoyd, but he appears to have no idea whatsoever about who they are, or where they might have come from. I’ll be trying to stay away from any major spoilers with this review, so read on.
Never before has one of the faux-novel intros grabbed me quite as strongly as it has in this issue. Certainly the title, Madness Atop Mountains High, is an excellent allusion to Lovecraft. Yet the disparity between the novel’s narration and how the fight actually unfolds could not be clearer here. The description of the fight reads like much any other fantasy story you might have read, with the heroes offering clear instructions and even tossing in a few witticisms. For me, it feels more like a fight unfolding in one of my games of D&D. The reality is a messy one, with all of the characters just barely managing to not get smashed to bits. This is a familiar theme for this series: the reality of heroism compared to its idealized forms. It works again here.
The addition of Aelbert to our little gang is a welcome one. Just when the rhythm between Dusty and Learoyd risked becoming too familiar, Aelbert offers a new kind of voice and dynamic for the protagonists. He sits between Learoyd’s hard-bitten and profane pragmatism and Dusty’s youthful idealism. The fact that the voice is that of a crusty faux-Irish goatman means it won’t get stale easily He also gets to have some strikingly emotional moments in the book, going from reflecting the death of all the people in his clan, to immediately chowing down on food when it’s offered.
So, those are the traditional story insights we can here. Yet we can also see the slow melding of fantasy and science-fiction going on all at once here. The Galateans are clearly intended as another kind of allusion to George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, and not a particularly subtle one. Apart from the literal connections, Pygmalion and its classical Greek roots are stories about transformation and creation. For the Galateans to wield the kind of power that they have, as well as their obviously human origins, suggests some kind of role in the creation or at least maintenance of the Autumnlands. Yet it also raises the question why they are doing this now, and who else has been to this place. The gang of three aren’t the first recent visitors, and all of this links up with the crash of the city.
We’re coming up on the end of this story arc. Whatever we learn about the Galateans and their connection to the Autumnlands will make for a good cliffhanger going into the third arc. The best fantasy series in comics right keeps soldiering on.
Rating: 9/10
Zeb Larson
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