The Architect’s Epiphany

The Kwong brothers (Indigo) spin up a relentless action-adventure fantasy. Years after Zhehe City broke a peace treaty and destroyed neighboring Aye-Shan City, a shaman named Ling aims to set things right by finding the only person who is able to rebuild what’s been lost—the “City Builder” of Aye-Shan. It turns out that the City Builder has died, but his grandson, Ocean, joins Ling on a quest to find the city’s guardian beast, accompanied by the children of the last survivors. As they make their way across a wasteland studded with twisted rock formations and crumbling stone ruins, the Holy Mother of Zhehe sends her army to annihilate them—and wipe out all memory of Aye-Shan. “Can history be rewritten so casually?” Ling wonders. The script moves too quickly for readers to catch up to its worldbuilding, but it’s peppered with choice fantastical details, such as Ocean’s use of different musical instruments to bend the elements to his will. The lush, mostly black-and-white art lands like a cross between fantasy manga like Berserk and vintage Metal Hurant comics. Though the frenetic pace can be frustrating, it’s a bold burst of imagination. (Aug.)