Shadowzone: In the Realm of the Kiv Volume 1 builds a beautiful fantasy world with a darkness threatening two royal daughters. In 2019, there was a Kickstarter campaign to launch the Shadowzone graphic novel. It is self-published by odagawa.com Art and you can order a copy from that website. The cover is by creator, Ryan Odagawa, and Siya Oum. The widescreen image features the pink-haired, young sister, Corina, and her older sister, Kandora next to butterflies, a lake, and hills with waterfalls. Odagawa provides the illustration and concept. He worked on Savant Garde for Wildstorm Productions and also Iron Man #53 (2002) for Marvel Comics. Barbara Randall Kesel wrote the story of the graphic novel. Kesel wrote comics for many companies including Savant Garde and Marvel Snapshots Avengers #1 (2021). Side note: I do know personally Ryan Odagawa.
The opening pages has a beautiful sunset and the land with a city below a pink-flowered tree on the left and the hills with waterfalls on the right. The 11 x 7.5” landscape printing captures a cinematic quality to the pages. This pans to the right as we see a river and a dam, a narrator explains about his sister, Kandora. Also, that it is spring and the Monk Anon has arrived to bring news. His dialogue leads us to the right as he tells of his vision of an unknown child and the “tragedy” that followed. Monk Anon also tells a group of three about the awakening of the Kiv. One is a tall man with dreads and next to him is a short, bearded man in the dress of a blacksmith. The clothing and characters look medieval and also ancient Asia like Avatar: The Last Airbender. The woman, Taira, volunteers to check on the king and queen of Baydera. Anon has seen that she does so and that she needs to return to their camp with a “gift.” Another panning shot from the waterfalls to the city of Baydera where citizens are celebrating the Festival of the Fates.
The narrator says that it is a celebration of the third child of the king and queen, then we get the royal palace. Kandora watches out of a window. King Evero is practicing fencing with his son, Ryder, but is distracted by Kandora. The queen tells him to watch over their twin children. Kandora has spotted Irek, a dark-haired man riding a curved-horned mount. Finally, King Evero sends his children out to the festival. Ryder and Kandora pass a renactment of the Kiv, glowing-eyed beasts, that the speaker says requires training in body and mind. Kandora has Ryder go with her to follow Irek. In the mines, we get a closeup of Irek’s fist shattering crystals. He wants the mercenary, Rasha, to be patient. At the mouth of the cave is Kandora and Ryder as a shaft of light illuminates Irek and Rasha. The two men get into an argument, Irek’s eyes glow, and then takes a large piece of crystal to slash Rasha. This causes a cave-in, Irek hears Kandora call out Ryder’s name and then a dark Kiv appears. Kandora blames herself for her twin’s death and her eyes glow. At Baydera, Queen Elyn gives birth to a pink-haired baby girl. One girl is a child of hope and the other has fallen to despair. Shadowzone: In the Realm of the Kiv Volume 1 has an excellent setup of an original, fantasy world with Kandora and her baby sister that may save Baydera!
Five Crystals out of Five!
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