Comic Review: Starhenge #4

Starhenge #4

Image Comics

Creator: Liam Sharp

  A few months ago when I came across the first issue of Starhenge I was genuinely curious and once I read I was positively surprised. Liam Sharp has big aspirations for this project, that much is obvious. But I’m starting to fear a monthly read may not be the best way to experience this series. The fourth issue picks up where the third stops with Amber and Darryl facing a Death Robot from the Future. Suddenly, Darryl grows stronger and bigger as he declares that his first name is Kushim Sal, the Shape-Cark, and has been waiting for this robot to appear. The two engage in old-fashioned combat as Amber runs away, unknowingly heading towards a tree entity that claims she is a “sister” of Amber, separated by time. So Sharp just shifted the gear in this story again. The past issues have been mostly monotone focusing on Merlin’s challenge to build Stonehenge. This one, however, starts off very differently, thrusting the 2022 main characters into a completely different scenario. As I mentioned before, the creator has clear intentions for this big project for which The Dragon and The Boar is still only the first part. Nevertheless, for this reviewer, the chosen approach of telling this fascinating story is revealing worse and worse each time. A considerable chunk of Merlin’s story is mostly told rather than shown. Not only that but the exposition text is supposed to be coming from Amber and it’s somewhat unbalanced between the solemnity of the mystical moment she’s commenting on and the sudden “WTF”s comments along with some more 2020’s young adult dialect. It’s incredibly distracting and it breaks me right out of the comic. When I notice the artwork of this comic I’m reminded of why I grow weary of the writing. While the latter is becoming stale and unfitting the former only gets better. The varied art styles are accurately chosen according to the scene taking place and convey just the proper importance of every panel. Seriously, Liam Sharp’s mastery of mixed media is phenomenal. There’s even a small section right at the start of the chapter where Sharp emulates the style present in classic horror comics with Ben Day dots and all. I still hold strong hopes for this series due to the big plan that lies beyond these few first issues. Amber’s story is finally starting to pick up which ought to give her a stronger charisma while also reducing the weird narration.