Review by Ian Keogh

Ogrest lives on a world where the sons and daughters of the gods are looking to supplant their parents. They’re powerful and manipulative beings, and among them the massively strong ogre is a simple blunt weapon to be pointed in the right direction, which is what happens when Echo acquires Ogrest.

Because he’s a well-intentioned innocent there’s a natural sympathy for Ogrest, but it’s been more difficult to warm to cover star Lupa. Mig, though, manages her gradual transformation into a likeable character here. The compromises she’s worked under were laid bare in Volume 3, and this volume features her backstory in individually numbered chapters sifted between the main story. It finally reveals why her colleagues consider themselves siblings.

After the political machinations of the previous volume Mig scales back the cast, and Ogrest again becomes a major character. Sadly, he all too easily believes what he’s told, which is that his beloved mother figure Dathura wants him to gather six items known as dofus. It’s sad watching him in action knowing how thoroughly he’s been deceived, although somewhat mitigated by the imaginative way Mig draws the tasks he’s been allocated. However, Mig’s a great plotter and things never stay downbeat for too long as there’s always a comedy moment to lighten the mood.

The drawing remains delightful, Mig creating fantasy environments you’ll want to explore, and there are plenty of them as Ogrest is sent from place to place collecting those dofus. It’s also worth noting that no two characters resemble each other, yet the world Mig’s designed means no-one looks out of place.

Regular readers have already seen that the most dangerous of the godlings is Echo, yet the extent of her long term planning and manipulations is astonishing. Toward the end some shocking secrets drop and they’re going to make Volume 5 unmissable.