Review: Worrywart by Nick Bryan
How about the story of our conquerors, a royal demon-folk lineage and one particular prince with a penchant for pleasure-inducing imps in a totally SFW way with art that's full of style and individuality while delivering great fantasy visuals? Worry not, as Worrywart has all this and more from Nick Bryan, Lane Lloyd and LetterSquids.
Nick Bryan is a writer of comics and prose from London. The vaguely philosophical creator is responsible for a range of great comics, including but not limited to SoulD, And It Snowed, Death Of A Necromancer and the very enjoyable The Collected Letters Of Courier Z.
Lane Lloyd is a GLAAD and Ringo award-winning cartoonist, artist and writer. Lane has worked with publishers such as Ahoy, IDW, Oni, Legendary, Image, Band of Bards, CEX and A Wave Blue World. Lane is also the creator of Sable, God-Puncher and the artist for Grandma Tilly's Hell-Tech Mech, to name just a few projects.
LetterSquids is a comic letterer and designer based in Hartford, United States. LetterSquids has a colossal list of previous works, including Nick's SoulD as well as Commander Rao, Red Stylo Media's What Fresh Hell Is This? Alterno's It Came Out On A Wednesday Anthology, Borderx and Topia: A Bonfire Anthology to scratch the surface.
Ryan Foust contributed original character designs. He has been published by Image Comics, Source Point Press and Loud Paintings. His previous works include A Fine Place To Die, Grief and The Origin Of Fairytales.
Finally, on the creative team is David B Cooper for colours on the cover. David B Cooper is a Scottish, more specifically Glaswegian, cartoonist and artist, we last saw here at CBNUK with sterling work on Pirate Fun. He is also well into a mammoth marathon of illustrating every Simpsons character ever to appear, and his other previous works include "Lenny", Doomed Love and Mixtape, to name a few. Dangerously delightful creatives introduced, it's time for the good stuff.
So, let's start with the art. Lane Lloyd is a stupendously skilled artist with a slick individualistic style full of character. Lane's style seems particularly well suited to the fantasy aesthetic. The design of Prince Grufwof has a really cool seventies edge and the character work as a whole is very strong.
The art really is focused on characters, with an abundance of detail and style that makes things engaging and interesting. I did feel it was a shame that this same level of detail was absent in the backgrounds. Although depictions are just as clear and present narrative well, backgrounds and larger set pieces are definitely presented in a more stripped-back way. The upside of this is that the main characters do have an extra pop to their appearances.
The other big aspect of this comic art is the fantastically creative lettering of LetterSquids. The lettering on offer in Worrywart is high pedigree comic work and showcases what the medium can gift by way of enhancing art and impacting narrative. It's absolute stand-out work and a real treat to see. Finally, for art, special mention for the character designs of Ryan Foust, which offer a stunning creation, adding Disney qualities to the main cast. A very intriguing offering. Now it's story time.
Nick Bryan brings us an awesome slice of mythical fantasy centred around a Demon Royal Family and one member's unrelenting obsession with his bliss-bequeathing imp. The plot outline is that Demon Queen Dowwof sets off to enslave and conquer Earth after her son and heir, Prince Grufwof, hatches. His baby cries are placated with Worrywart an enchanted happiness Imp. After achieving success, the Queen now wants to raise her son in her own image, but can't convince him to give up his attachment to happiness. Finding it a source of embarrassment, she unleashes a bounty hunter of the highest regard with no limit on collateral damage approach, to bring the Prince in line.
The story offers some interesting angles on addiction, happiness and anxiety as well as the nature of oppressive regimes, family expectations and the challenge of forging your own path. While delivering an action-packed romp and the dynamic story arc of finding self-assertion, Worrywart is a really fun adventure of a story that's full of entertainment, a touch of poignant life lessons and captivating fantasy. It's a powerful package with a touch of magic.
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For fans of Fantasy, magic, Demons, Royalty, tales of learning to assert yourself despite anxiety in the face of an overbearing parent and oppressive regime, while still holding onto your bliss, bounty hunters, Imps, collateral damage and character-focused art full of style, bequeath yourself and exercise some self-love with a copy of Worrywart.
To get your copy, you should sign up for the pre-launch of the upcoming Worrywart Kickstarter campaign here. This is the way, for now. In the meantime, I'd highly recommend checking out Nick's website here. Follow Lane on Instagram here, and LetterSquids website is here.
Review: 4.3/5
