The Sorcerer's Tale

If you are a Crossgen fan and have been following the Sojourn story, you'll want to get a copy of this right away. It's the last published volume of this epic, outstanding story, the merits of which are better described in other reviews. Sadly, the story was never finished due to Crossgen's spectacular rise and fall...but this is the collection of the last published issues. A must have for any Sojourn fans!

When CrossGen Comics first burst onto the scene in 2000, they really seemed poised to become the next major player. They had a solid assemblage of creative talent, an excellent product, and people working behind the scenes who knew the comic industry. But ultimately, CrossGen failed where so many companies fail, comic companies or otherwise, right at the top with executive management. Like so many others, CrossGen tried to expand and diversify too much, too fast. The walls started crumbling in and by 2004 the company had filed for bankruptcy. CrossGen had been collecting its various titles into trade paperback format but when the company finally folded, many issues had yet to be collected...until now. Checker Books has stepped in to save the day and CrossGen lives again! Checker is finally releasing collected editions of those issues, which previously had not been published in trade paperback format. This is absolutely wonderful! The first release in the series is Sojourn Volume 5, which collects issues 25 - 30 of the regular series, originally published in 2003 - 2004. Sojourn is an epic, high fantasy with some of the most beautiful art ever, pure and simple. If you hadn't previously read Sojourn, never fear. The book contains and introduction to the story and characters. Even if you are reading it for the first time you'll catch on very quick. Sojourn features perhaps the central plot of most epic fantasy stories---a quest. The evil warlord Mordath has risen from his tomb as an undead revenant, intending to enslave the Five Lands of Quin, backed by legions of trolls. The beautiful archer Arwyn is seeking the five fragments of the arrow that was used to kill Mordath. It's said that once the five fragments are reunited, the mythical warrior Ayden will return to again destroy Mordath. Arwyn is accompanied on her quest by the rogue, Gareth, and his sometimes love, the thief Cassidy. As this book opens, Arwyn as found two of the give fragments and is working on the third. Meanwhile, there are trolls in Mordath's own circle of power who think that a human should not be their ruler and they hatch a plot to assassinate him by attacking him with vorpal blades, actually dragon fangs dipped in dragon venom. Meanwhile, the trio of comrades encounters an island full of zombies, which may not be an island after all. Behind the scenes, a powerful mage named Pallias is aiding Arwyn on her quest but what are his real intentions? This is as good a fantasy epic as comics have seen since Conan was at his peak when Roy Thomas was writing his adventures in the 1970's for Marvel Comics. It's that good! As good as the story is, the art is simply phenomenal. Greg Land's work is worth the price of the book alone. I've seen a lot of pin-up art that is mesmerizing for its photo-realistic qualities but I've never seen photo-realism to this degree in a comic book. Each page is like a piece of fine art. A special tip of the hat goes to colorist