Zeb Larson reviews Autumnlands: Tooth & Claw #4…
With the Great Champion away, the city is vulnerable to Goodfoot’s machinations.
Autumnlands has really jelled as a series, especially now that Dunstan had a regular role in each issue. It’s interesting because not a whole lot really happens in this issue in terms of action. We’re basically waiting for the Buffalo tribe to strike, Goodfoot is still scheming, Gharta is still trying to bring everybody under control, and Sandhorst is pompously trying to control a world that has fallen apart all around him. I will not be discussing any substantive spoilers ahead, so read on without concern.
Learoyd is in charge of reconnaissance in this issue as he tries to figure out where the survivors can go to await rescue. He and Dunstan get to spend some time together, and despite their considerable cultural and physical gap, the two actually seem to like each other. Goodfoot is busy spinning schemes in the remains of the city, while the remaining beasts aren’t of much use as they drink themselves into incoherence. The question is underlying this issue is who will strike first, especially as nobody apart from Dunstan seems to be aware of what’s going on with Goodfoot.
For a while, the biggest issue with this series was that Dunstan was frequently in the background as an observer, one whose perspective we never really shared. The fact that Dunstan and Learoyd spent the issue together was a major step forward in Autumnlands’ character-building and depth, one that is welcome. One of the interesting elements in this month’s issue is Dunstan’s realization of the unfair hierarchy among magic-wielding animals. Learoyd couldn’t care less about the poverty of the Buffalo village, because he just has a mission in front of him. Everything this world can show him is all equally irrational and devoid of context, so it’s all devoid of meaning. For Dunstan, on the other hand, it’s hitting him for the first time that the picture his father painted of the world may not be as rosy as he hoped. It’s too early in the series to say where they’ll go with this, but challenging the hierarchy may yet be a feature of this story.
Is the real purpose of this story going to be the hierarchical divide between magic-wielding animals and those without magic? It may not be the main focus, but it’s certainly fueled a lot of the action so far, and it appears as though that will continue. Goodfoot can’t help but be motivated by this, as even the trinkets she’s trying to acquire in the city would fetch a considerable sum of money. Magic has been a deeply destabilizing force thus far, and I suspect it will continue to be destabilizing.
This increasing interplay between individual characters and the well-developed backstory bodes well for this series, putting it among other epic fantasy genres. I don’t want to bog Autumnlands by comparing it to anything else. This series deserves to stand on its own two (or four) legs and be judged accordingly. When we get narrative payoff next issue, it should be good.
Zeb Larson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszFJHnpNzqHh6gswQ0Srpi5E&feature=player_embedded&v=qqtW2LRPtQY
Originally published February 18, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
