Review by Woodrow Phoenix
In Helen of Wyndhorn writer Tom King and artist Bilquis Evely craft a narrative several layers deep, being a reflection on the purpose of fiction in people’s lives, the difficulty of establishing the truth of any reported event, and the fallibility of human relationships over time. These ingredients are shaken and stirred through a strainer to add extra flavour to the otherwise conventionally plotted fantasy story of Helen Cole, the 16-year-old daughter of pulp SF writer C.K. Cole. In 1936 after his early, sudden death she returns to Wyndhorn House, a mansion in an enormous estate where her father was raised, to discover that his best-selling adventures of the warrior Othan were not invented – but reported.
Bilquis Evely vividly recreates the atmosphere of vintage pulp SF and Sword and Sorcery with her beautifully detailed linework and exquisitely composed imagery, sumptuously coloured by Matheus Lopes. The beguiling imagery is definitely needed at first to pull you in when the rancor of teenage Helen’s annoying, know-it-all, loud-mouthed, hard-smoking and hard-boozing ways make her a very difficult protagonist to like. Her grandfather, the other key figure, is even less likeable, but as the secrets of both Barnabas and Helen’s traumas are revealed, all the alcoholism, violence, moodswings and chaotic behaviour begin to make a lot more sense.
Tom King’s take on the otherworldly heroes of Edgar Rice Burroughs hits all the right genre notes while doing something new with Helen herself as something other than a damsel in distress. As we travel deeper into the alternate worlds of Helen’s father and grandfather the story becomes more compelling with each page of superbly rendered artwork. To make the arc of a classic Hero’s Journey less routine, King inserts several competing viewpoints between the reader and the action: from the main narrator Lilith, Helen’s tutor, to the biographer to whom she describes her experiences, and then a series of others whose connection to the material shrivels with each hop. It’s a frustrating storytelling choice. Helen’s adventures are nothing new, but what we see of them is so capably rendered that hardly matters, and every cut-away to a frame inside yet another frame annoys the reader more.
The Helen of Wyndhorn Deluxe Edition allows readers to enjoy the art by Bilquis Evely at a larger size than the standard edition on nicer paper. This hardcover volume housed in a slipcase is the same generous dimensions as the Hellboy Library Editions. It also features gilded page edges and a bound-in book ribbon. There are a few more extras included at the back of the book. Many of the small images from the sketchbook in the previous edition are shown at their full size here, along with rough page layouts, script notes, other unseen drawings, and pin-ups by a variety of guest artists. It’s a visual treat and a great showcase for Evely’s dazzling illustrative skill.
