Thieves & Kings Volume One, The Red Book

I had just recently heard about this series from a link, the art immeadiatly caught my eye as being fantastic. After ogling over the web page for a while, I finally picked up a copy, and let me tell all of you out there, this is the finest american comic book out there (aside from anything by Phil Foglio). The story is fun and enjoyable, the shifting between novel and comic is very original and interesting, and the art... the art is the best art I've seen in a comic (okay, so that's a tad bit of an exageration) but it great nontheless. I reccomend this book to anyone and everyone, this should be required reading! Boy oh boy, this series suddenly just jumped me and I don't regret a thing.

An amazing story about thouroughly interesting characters. It becomes obvious immediatly that M'oak's claim that he has been building this world & it's history mentaly for years must be true. This is a story from a mind that has very few creative limitations. No man could live long enough to tell the tale that I believe dwells in Mark Oakley (M'oak)'s mind. Regardless, I still wish that I could be here to hear it all. The artwork fits the tale perfectly, which is a rare thing. Not since "The Adventures Of Captain Jack," by MIKE KAZALEH went out of print have I read such an entertaining book. Not since Gaiman's "Sandman" have I read one so thought-provoking. Truly worthy of the term "Graphic Storytelling."

Oakley takes a unique approach to comic book-ing: He tells much of the story through sparsely illustrated pages of prose -- allowing him to show-off his skills as a word-smith and his control of character depth, motivation and development. But don't think *T & K* is lacking in action. On the contrary: Oakley's background in animation comes forwrd here, superbly! His action sequences are ploted and exicuted like a cross between *The Mask of Zoro* and Jackie Chan. There's not a simple, straight-forward sword fight to be found.

The fantasy genre is experiencing a rebirth in the comics medium with titles like Bone, Castle Waiting, Akiko...and Thieves & Kings, my personal favorite.The basic premise that launches the story: a young thief named Rubel befriends a princess and is drawn into a world of magic, mystery, and adventure. Don't let the cliched premise fool you for a minute - read a few pages into the story and you'll find Thieves & Kings to be one of the most novel, imaginative fantasy stories you've encountered. To begin with, note the innovative format. Thieves & Kings combines traditional comic book panel-to-panel storytelling with pages of illustrated prose. It's a pretty cool combination, with the prose providing exposition and focus on the characters' inner thoughts, and the traditional comic book pages focusing on action, character interaction, and comic moments that require careful timing.The characters are the real draw for me. This may be high adventure, but these characters are intimately human - no stock fantasy-types here. Rubel, the central character, thinks and talks like a kid. A real kid. One of the early highlights of the series is his extended argument with his companion imp, Varkias, over a completely trivial matter. You'll find yourself laughing often, remembering what it was like to argue when you were too young to make a clear point. And you'll remember what it was like to feel sorrow as a kid, as Rubel tries to make his way in the mysterious and occasionally dark world he lives in.The fantasy world Mr. Oakley has created is just as innovative as the characters. It feels real - there's city life and commerce and politics going on in the background - but there are also imps, shadow ladies, and sentient woods. Of great note is the fact that all the elements of the fantastic are described with such care as to make them entirely plausible without stripping them of their magic and mystery (a dangerous pitfall for many a careless fantasy writer!). It's rare that a fantasy world can be imbued with such a high degree of verisimilitude, but there it is, right before your eyes.My criticisms are minor. Some of the action scenes in this first collection are slightly difficult to follow (remedied in follow-up collections). And...well, that's about it. Mr. Oakley isn't the most polished artist in the world, but I don't consider that a negative point. He may not be slick, but you WILL believe in the world he draws and the characters that live in it. I guarantee it.To sum: Thieves & Kings is a novel fantasy/adventure with a strong character focus and keen human insight. It's got terrific action, all kinds of comedy, and many a charming moment. Sometimes it swells with exuberance and joy, sometimes it's sad and bittersweet. It is, without a doubt, the best fantasy you'll read for a long time.