[Comic Book Review] OBERON #4 from AfterShock Comics

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[Comic Book Review] OBERON #4 from AfterShock Comics

Adrian Care

May 8, 2019

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PopCultHQ received an advance review copy of OBERON #4 from AfterShock Comics. Available Wednesday, May 8th, the creative team for this series features writing from Ryan Parrott, art from Milos Slavkovic, colors by Leonardo Paciarotti, and lettering from Charles Pritchett.

Here’s PopCultHQ’s spoiler-free review of…

OBERON #4

Writer: Ryan Parrott
Artist: Milos Slavkovic
Colorist: Leonardo Paciarotti
Letterer: Charles Pritchett

Cover Artist: Milos Slavkovic

In Shops: May 08, 2019
SRP: $3.99

With his adversaries closing in, Oberon strikes an unexpected bargain with Titania, the Queen of the Fairies, leading to a complicated reunion at the longest running party in history: The Immortal Masquerade. Get your costumes ready for the next magical chapter!

From writer Ryan Parrott (VOLITION, Power Rangers) and artist Milos Slavkovic (Lightstep), OBERON is a supernatural adventure proving once and for all that fairies should never be trust-ed.

PopCultHQ’s Comic Book Review:
OBERON #4

Fairy king Oberon faces off against Mother Mayie, trades barbs with ex-wife Queen Titania, and suits up to the nines to attend a magical ball. It seems like everything is a dream in this magical land, in fact, there lies darkness and danger at every turn.

Writing:

Ryan Parrott (Revolution, Saban’s Go Go Power Rangers) dresses a simple enough plot in rich characters and glittering settings. But his real talent in Oberon is the layer of constant tension, evil, and danger that threatens to turn the story on its ear at any given second.

Although it feels like it’s strayed from the main hook that Bonnie has been uprooted from her life to be used in Oberon’s plans, this is more testament to how much story Parrott has eased into these few issues and less a blight or oversight.

Without actually being Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, Lord Oberon is written with charm, wit, sinister intelligence and complexity. This is so well-accomplished that, as the reader, you’ll not once question the authenticity of how other characters play off him.

For a writer that has worked so notably with sci-fi, it’s astonishing to witness how well Parrott knows this fantasy world and a pleasure to be guided (or misguided) through it by him.

Art:

I refuse to believe that Milos Slavkovic’s sole credits are Oberon and Dark Horse’s Lightstep. An artist who can render stunning magical battles, design striking costume and characters, express the verbose personalities the writer has scripted, and contribute to such elegantly designed settings, surely must have years of experience doing this.

Although this book never veers too close to being a Fables copy through the story, Slavkovic’s unique eye is a major contributor for this fable-based tale standing even firmer on its own two feet.

The art has elements of beauty that were a hallmark of Michael Turner’s style and some areas that are reminiscent of Brandon Peterson’s. It’s the infusion of realistic figure work with the additions of costumes and effects that are clearly the result of hours of studying and researching the fantasy genre.

In a time so dominated with multiple artists on one book or a fill-in artist every other issue, you must commend Slavkovic for turning in such quality on a regular basis with twice the details of most other working artists today.

Colors:

Colorist Leonardo Paciarotti just made a quantum leap with this issue. While his work on Wonderland and Youngblood has been of a high standard, the sheer majesty that the color work in this issue of Oberon is bar-raising, to say the least.

Embellishing Slavkovic’s art to ridiculously great proportions, the work that has gone into the costumes, the ballroom scene, the whole book from the first page to last, is a perfect encapsulation of what fantasy books should be colored like.

Letters:

Charles Pritchett (Animosity, Dynamo 5) has a field day depicting the principle casts voice in varied and distinct ways. The urgency and climactic energy he infuses into the opening battle scene is excellent, and though scant, the effects lettering stays true to classic comic book lettering without taking the reader out of the magical setting the book exists in.

It’s a dazzlingly, gorgeous-looking book that carries all the charm and enchantment of its fabled settings. There’s a lot of story packed into this penultimate issue, leaving no question that this book is worth your time and hard-earned money. Whether fantasy is your bag or something you generally shy away from, the character, art, and story are sure to work their magic on you.