We check out the first chapter of Mara, a new webcomic by Writer Dylan Goss and artist Rosi Woo, about a young girl who begins a journey of revenge with help from a God when her tribe is killed.

Publisher: Stuffed Rock Studios
Writer: Dylan Goss
Artist: Rosi Woo
Price: Mara-Comic.com/Store

Mara tells the story of a young girl, a child of an Iroquois tribe which is brutally attacked by the mysterious and deadly tribe of TXIV. Led by a vicious monster of a man wearing a horned animal skull on his face, this war mongering and animalistic people go about pillaging the supplies of the village and slaying every person within it, save for one. Now, with the spirits of this lost people battling each other over her very soul, Mara finds herself forced to go from innocent child to instrument of vengeance for her family and people.

I found Mara to be a really enjoyable read, with Dylan Goss peppering this opening instalment with lots of intrigue as to what is to come. I really liked how events unfolded, with a great emphasis placed on the spirits, where there was great emphasis on both their presence and their interest within events. However, Mara, both the story and the character feel a little blank, as though little is shown of either the character’s personality or the context of players within the story. While the plot itself moves at a good pace, I felt questions were left unanswered as we moved with it; who are Mara’s tribe? Why did the TXIV attack? Does Amaruq influence Mara or straight up control? What are the spirit’s roles in the tribe’s beliefs? The questions come thick and fast right up until the end, although they don’t impede the enjoyment, they are sorely missed and left me hoping the answers were still to come.

However, the true breakout for this series is without doubt the art as Rosi Woo’s artwork is absolutely gorgeous. The pencils and art look so clean that they almost seem like they are no where close to a traditional comic style. The style of the pencils looks almost Scurry like in their sharpness, while the colours are more reminiscent of Curia Regis. However, the work looks most like it was Manga inspired, especially in the case of Mara herself, whose visual look in the early pages has a very Alita look.

As a result of this, it seems to give Mara a childlike and innocent look which seems heightened than anything I’ve seen before. This isn’t all the art makes an impression on though as the bad guys look truly menacing, with very feral features in their faces as well as animal based attire, giving the vibe that they are less bad or evil people and more animalistic in nature. Meanwhile, the spirits watching over Mara and her tribe look so majestic as they are laid out among the stars that thinking of them as anything other than deities would make the story less believable.

Mara’s first chapter has really set the stage for a truly captivating tale. While the story seems somewhat lacking in context, the writing is still top notch and it is bumped up by truly sublime art. I really enjoyed this and, based on what i read, am more than a little interested to return for more in part two .