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Canon Reviews

The Chromatic Fantasy by H.A.

A Wonderful Romantic Romp in a Fantasy Word

Synopsis

Jules, a transgender man, finds himself trapped in the life of a nun at a convent where he is not accepted for who he is. Jules then accepts a deal from a devil and escapes the convent. Soon, he meets Casper, another transgender man who is a notorious thief. Together, they embark on a series of adventures in a wonderfully lush fantasy world, and fall in love along the way.

Critique
  • Story: The story does a great job of developing Jules and Casper. I felt like I understood the pain that Jules underwent being forced to be who he wasn’t in the convent and the freedom he felt escaping that environment and finding someone he could love. That being said this does feel like an early work for H.A. as the pacing doesn’t feel completely feel consistent. There were also aspects of the world that I didn’t understand like having technology and modern appliances in a fantasy setting without explanation. This was a fun story with a lot of heart and I look forward to seeing what H.A. does next.
  • Art: The art is a true feast of the eyes which has almost a classic animation cell aesthetic. The two big stand outs for me with this book are the character designs and the color. The color work in particular is a real reason to pick up this book and pour over it. As an original art collector H.A. is someone I would definitely be interested in reaching out to.  
  • Craft: H.A. is someone who does a fantastic job of making each panel feel consistent and thought through. By that I mean none of the panels feels sparce in comparison to the others around it which I feel many cartoonists do. As mentioned before I love the character work specifically the gestures and facial expressions which all feel real and convey a significant amount about the characters. My only real criticism is that H.A. uses such a thing line that sometimes with the level of detail being used it can be difficult to understand what is going on.  
  • Impact: I am in many ways not the target audience for this book. That being said I really connected with characters and could get inside their heads. Thus, even though this is in a fantasy setting I felt this book does a great job of highlighting the experiences of Trans and making it understandable for is readers. I also can’t think of many books in the comics world highlighting a relationship between two trans individuals. Thus, I think this book does a great job of adding needed much representation in the industry.

Clarification of Critique Categories

Production

Silver Sprocket continues to be one of the best physical book producers in the comic industry. This book is beautifully produced with gilded book edges and an embossed cover. This book is a great price point for the production.

Final Thoughts
The Chromatic Fantasy by H.A. Image #5

The Chromatic Fantasy

This is the kind of book which is a lot of fun from the whimsical fantasy setting, the wonderful color work reminiscent of classic Disney movies, to the fully realized romanitic elements of the story.

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Reviewed by Alex Eklund

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