07-19-07

Off the Map
So you've managed to avoid the multiple "spoilers" contained in the allegedly stolen copy of the seventh Harry Potter book, and so far, your resolve not to peak just a little is holding up.  But, Goshdarnit, the official release is still two days away, and you just gotta have you some magical world action.  Well, you're in luck, my fuzzy little muffins, 'cause Uncle Brett has found you a winner.

Okay, maybe "found" is too strong a word.  I seem to remember a Tangent about it some time in the past, and maybe even a Snark.  Maybe not; maybe I just like linking to other peoples' review blogs.  Or maybe, Juathuur, by Katie Sweet, is so amazingly good, that I'd be surprised if neither of them noticed it, and I got away with another minor scoop on my more-talented brethren.

Make no mistake, Juathuur (pronounced Hwathoor, if I read Sweet's language guide correctly) is eminently worthy of widespread note.  It is, like Anywhere But Here and Antique White House, one of those comics that I feel shouldn't be on the web at all, except as a minor presence to promote the ink-and-paper version.  Lucky for us, my feelings don't really make a difference in the capricious world of publishing, and here it sits, in full free view of ...well...anyone with an internet computer and a few hundred free hours to plunge the archive.

You will need to free up some time and start at the first page (Juathuur is arranged in pages like a conventional comic book, and not in strips), because Sweet's epic is a sweeping and complicated story with more plot shifts than a Dashiell Hammett novel and more convoluted and intertwined relationships than a hospital drama.  Sweet manages these shifts and convolutions in a dazzling dance, lifting veils away one at a time to reveal...something totally unexpected—as if Salome were being choreographed and technically supported by Houdini.

The dance begins slowly, and, at first glance, seems a little trite.  Faevv, the main character, is called away from her island home by her uncle, and leaves her mother to join with the Juathuur.  Elsewhere, three people on some covert mission are double-crossed and brutally murdered.  As the plot develops, it becomes obvious that this will be the sort of wish-fulfillment comic that so often plagues the net:  Ancient band of do-gooders faces down evil overlord; film at eleven.  More discerning readers will be tempted to click over and try their hand at YouTube roulette.

Boy will they miss out.  After the initial set-up, Juathuur embarks on a wild roller-coaster ride of frustrated ambitions, lost loves, and vengeance deferred.  Each page leads seamlessly to the next, and just when you think Sweet has removed all of the veils, she turns, and you realize that you weren't looking at what you thought you were, after all.  The dance builds and draws you in deeper.

Just as the dance of the veils would be less effective performed by an unattractive woman, so, Juathuur's intricate plot is ever the more enticing because it is fueled by Sweet's amazing art.  There is no rough beginning, no stilted front pages with rushed backgrounds at Lovecraftian angles.  Sweet weaves multiple influences into a stunning tapestry of style all her own, but comfortingly familiar.  There is a little of Manga's appreciation of the beauty of youth in these pages, and something of Wendy Pini's engaging character design, Phil Foglio's humor, John Byrne's sweeping action.  And there is love.  Even a casual eye can see that this epic is lovingly crafted, each stroke a valentine to Sweet's readers.

And therein lies the mark of a master.

Juathuur by Katie Sweet
Updates:  Daily
Caveats:  Violence, Adult Situations, Giant Undersea Cat-Monsters
Rating: