One would think that living in a world where there are literal castles in the sky, mystical beings such as ogres, goblins and elves living alongside humans beings and of course, magic being real, that life would be full of excitement and thrills. However, for Sage of the Riverlands, that isn’t enough, she wants more, she wants an adventure.
That’s exactly what you get in Dark Horse’s Modern Fantasy.
Written by Rafer Roberts and drawn by Kristen Gudsnuk, Modern Fantasy’s plot sound simple enough: a young person, bored of where they are, seeks out an adventure to change their dull life and throughout a series of bad choices, they find it. However, Roberts isn’t so much working on the plot but rather the characters themselves.
Sage is a character that can be relatable to the readers; she’s a data entry specialist who finds her job to be insufferable and wants to find something new. One reason she doesn’t like her employment is due to her obnoxious co-worker, Bock-Darr, who acts just like Michael Scott from The Office. He’s socially awkward and makes terrible jokes, yet there is a likeness toward him because of that. Her best friend, Gondra, is the one you can always rely on and can be your own personal therapist, while the roommate Lizard Wizard (his actual name) is the freeloader dealer that you know will get into some hijinks later on and you are the only one that can bail him out.
If anything, Modern Fantasy is The Big Bang Theory or Brooklyn Nine-Nine, just with Tolkienism added to the mix.
Gudsnuk’s art on Modern Fantasy resembles an animated series that would appear on Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, or even TBS, due to its bright colors- that is a good thing. Modern Fantasy isn’t based on a grand epic or legendary prophecy, but rather it’s a simple story of a young person going on an adventure of a lifetime, so the artwork should be lighter and softer rather than darker and realistic, it does enough to get the readers’ attention.
Modern Fantasy is what a fantasy series set in contemporary times should be, funny, its colors are vibrant and stand out, the characters are actually young people with depth and have their own personalities and if you were to remove the references of sex and expletives, it would be for all ages.
For a first issue, Modern Fantasy is a magical adventure on its own.
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