New world
King Bear takes us to an unknown world ruled by humanoid animals. One of the lands is ruled by the good and wise Artus. It is here that one day a young human boy unexpectedly appears, bringing bad news to the townspeople. Apparently, the evil witch Kalygaryd has returned from beyond the grave, and with her an army of the undead appeared. Because the threat is great, the king decides to send messengers to deliver a message to other monarchs and try to rebuild old alliances. At the head of the expedition is Prince Kodiak, accompanied by his friends and the best warrior of the land of the bears. Together they reach the kingdom of birds and the distant jungle. They face many dangers along the way.
Good night, good evening…
The script for the comic was written by Olivier Vatine, based on an idea by Dobbs. Reading the plot description alone, one can have mixed feelings. Just it would seem – another story about the power of friendship and a distant, probably epic journey, but set in the animal kingdom. Probably many will also think that the position is more aimed at younger audiences, and older ones will only find a lot of duplicated threads, known from other titles. Well, there is some truth to that, but most guesses are wrong.
King Bear is a truly engaging read. The dynamic development of events and surprising plot twists deserve praise. We also have a whole range of interesting heroes that we will start rooting for right away. Each reader will find his favorite here, and thanks to the palpable bond connecting him with other characters, he will quickly like the other members of the expedition. The world itself can be intriguing. It is not initially described in any way and we are just exploring it with Kodiak and his team, thanks to which we will become even more involved in the story.
Unfortunately, apart from the positives, there are also some negatives. First of all, the author sometimes seems to change the concept of who the comic is intended for. There are times when this is a typically youth title, with jokes even more at the children’s level, to sexual overtones in a moment. There is also plenty of bloodshed here. I also have comments to the very end of the first volume, where everything speeds up too much, and our heroes deal with a considerable threat too quickly. Everything could have been developed more. But despite a few shortcomings, the adventure should be counted as the most successful.
Nice, fluffy, round
For the graphic design of the first volume of King Bearreplies Didier Cassegrain. And here I can say right away that it is amazing and deserves only praise. From the first pages you can feel the unique atmosphere of the album and they take us straight to the land of bears. The successive kingdoms also emanate their own aura and charm. In addition, the cartoonist perfectly keeps up with the action proposed by the screenwriter. It slows down during ceremonial audiences at courts and speeds up during duels. Because the whole comic has a lot of mystery and horror, appropriately subdued colors emphasize it even more. In turn, the moments of idyll received a bit more vivid colors, matching the moment. The character of each of the characters has also been rendered, and thanks to the presentation of facial expressions (or muzzles), we feel more like we are watching a movie and hearing every sigh, laugh or cry of pain.
To be continued
Wydawnictwo Kurc is responsible for publishing the comic in Poland . We receive an album in a soft cover and in a slightly larger format than standard titles. It is also worth adding that Król Niedźwiedz is a collection of two albums, originally released in 2020-2021. Maybe there are no special extras here, but the price is affordable. And it’s definitely worth spending money on it. This is an interesting fantasy adventure with anthropomorphic animals in the lead role. Beautiful frames and a captivating story will make this world absorb you completely. And that’s not over yet! The story ends at a very emotional moment, and the entire notebook is really just an introduction to further events. Let’s hope the level is maintained and the second volume will hit our stores soon!
