Faustine

"We pass through them and create no memories."

Writer: Steve Gallagher

Format: Comic Strip

Released: September 2023

Printed in: Gods & Monsters 02

Featuring: Faustine

Synopsis

Faustine is a Tharil Princess cut off from her own people and thrown into a crisis situation in modern-day Manchester. Depending on her slave engineer companion for survival, can the pair survive the perils yet to come?

Verdict

Faustine was another decent comic strip adventure to conclude this phase of Gods & Monsters! It's great to get Stephen Gallagher as the writer for Warriors' Gate in for a comic story like this and there is definitely untapped potential with the Thralils. I must admit I had absolutely no idea about anything this comic strip related to prior to reading so I was quite excited when I saw the author and the species of Faustine. She was an intriguing character and a fine lead for the adventure. I think it makes sense for her to get a whole book as she's the character we know least out of this phase, so when things do come together in the next phases and beyond, she might feel something on par to the likes of Sutekh and Omega. Or even Eldrad! The ability of the Tharils to shape time and space to their will is fantastic and it was good to explore here. I would argue it was perhaps even underutilised! But there is more to come which is exciting and good to know. I thought the engineer who seemed to be named Travis accompanying her was intriguing and whilst it didn't feel like a Doctor-companion dynamic, it certainly looked that way! The attire for Faustine was very Doctor-like and I really enjoyed that. One thing that has been consistently excellent with these Cutaway Comics releases is the quality of the artwork. It is absolutely top notch. That was evident in style when we got the flashback sequences from Travis in explaining how he came to meet Faustine and the art resembling a 1970s-style Doctor Who Annual! It noticeably dropped in brightness and tone and even the text looked retro. I thought that was terrific and a really simple yet incredibly effective story device. It works well to have the format of the story involved in what is being told. It's really rather clever and was something I massively appreciated. I wasn't sure it was necessary to split the story up into three parts but it didn't hurt things as I felt the flow was there all the way through. It was pretty fast paced and at some points I was hoping they would just slow down and explain things a little, but I can't say it wasn't exciting as a result! The role of the Gundan was decent and it looked imposing, although the blue mighty text of its speech in an unreadable tongue perhaps happened more times than was completely necessary. I liked the prospect of an enemy that couldn't be defeated and Travis being involved in engineering them worked pretty well. The use of dwarf star alloy coming into play again following on from Omega's wearing of it in Eltralla was good and I'm sure there'll be a connection there in the stories to come. It's an interesting element for sure and the six needles also being made of it was clever stuff. It was the only way to defeat the Gundan and that happened quite emphatically as Faustine stabbed it with them, paused for effect, and then pushed them right into its chest. No armour could stop that! Travis sticking with Faustine despite her species viewing humanity as nothing more than slaves was quite fun and I liked that he was building a connection with her despite her saying she didn't know why she hadn't killed him yet. The ambiguity for his ending was strong although a firm answer would have been welcomed in my opinion. I don't think he was the most amazing character ever but not knowing if he had died or found a life of happiness felt a little off for me! The cliffhanger of Faustine literally being given a hand was good as that was unseen who, and it gets me excited for what's to come next. Overall, a decent comic strip to continue the phase! I'm excited for more. The potential really is endless.

Rating: 7/10