Do not look behind you! – review of the comic book “Step by Step”

Spring is coming

Step by stepis a story about the journey of a small, defenseless girl and her great guardian clad in a sumptuous armor. It is not known why they wander, whether they have a purpose or are running away from something. Only very quickly does it turn out that the world is full of dangers. Every now and then beasts emerge from the wild, thirsty for human blood. Therefore, when the girl carelessly looks at the flowers, the guard at the same time fights with a huge pack of emaciated creatures. Secondly, it turns out that the heroines cannot go back. An unknown force prevents the girl from taking a step back. The only thing our brave protagonists can do is keep moving forward to face their destiny. The comic is full of mysteries, the authors explain little, because there are no dialogues here. Means, yes – the natives speak to the main characters, but they speak in an incomprehensible language. The plot intrigues from the very beginning, you want to explore this world and discover the secrets of the heroines. However, about halfway there is a feeling of insufficiency. There are no additional threads or scenes involving other characters, including antagonists. However, the ending itself was not entirely satisfactory to me. I guess I was hoping for something more surprising, original or spectacular. In the end, I also did not understand a few less important elements, for example, why the guard did not allow the girl to taste local specialties in one of the villages. There are no additional threads or scenes involving other characters, including antagonists. However, the ending itself was not entirely satisfactory to me. I guess I was hoping for something more surprising, original or spectacular. In the end, I also did not understand a few less important elements, for example, why the guard did not allow the girl to taste local specialties in one of the villages. There are no additional threads or scenes involving other characters, including antagonists. However, the ending itself was not entirely satisfactory to me. I guess I was hoping for something more surprising, original or spectacular. In the end, I also did not understand a few less important elements, for example, why the guard did not allow the girl to taste local specialties in one of the villages.

A giant guardian and a little girl

The graphics are phenomenal. The greatest attention is paid to the frames depicting this fascinating world. Unusual trees, beautiful rock formations covered with snow, and wild, deadly animals. There is something to keep an eye on. I was especially taken by the scenes that showed the contrast between the characters. In the foreground, the girl is resting, playing in peace, admiring nature, and in the background, the guard is fighting some monsters. A lot of such frames, sometimes you can’t see at first glance that a fierce fight is taking place somewhere in the background! You can feel at the same time that this world is beautiful and at the same time very dangerous. The cartoonists also skilfully conveyed the emotions accompanying the characters. They had a more difficult task to perform, because the protagonists do not speak, and the guard hides her face under a helmet. And yet I knew what these brave heroines feel, thanks to, for example, successful framing. I can’t say much about the edition because I had the pleasure of reading itStep by step in digital form. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that at the end there are alternative covers, a map of the world, and it is also shown what the cooperation between the writer and the artist looked like on the example of several boards.

Is it worth following constantly ahead?

Step by stepis an intriguing story set in a dangerous yet incredibly beautiful world. I don’t like reading comics in digital form, so I’m eager to return to this comic in physical form. Especially with great pleasure I will look at each frame, because there is something to keep an eye on. The relationship between the two protagonists touched my heart, and the plot full of secrets added flavor to this story. An interesting procedure of the screenwriter was the complete abandonment of dialogues. However, I missed more threads, and it would be useful for the authors to devote more space to the antagonists. Ultimately, however, in my opinion, this is a successful debut of the new publishing house on the Polish comics market. I encourage everyone to watch their next moves, because I think we can expect many interesting positions from them in the near future.

PS: Just before publication, I watched this comic in the physical version and in my opinion it is a solid release – hard cover, chalk paper. There’s just nothing to cling to here.