Tom King’s Helen of Windawn, Bilkis Evely, Mateus Lopez and Clayton Cowles were one of the most nominated books at this year’s Eisner Awards. It is a kind of fictional biography of a daughter to the type of Robert E. Howard that he didn’t have, and this book is a fantasy masterpiece, a very complicated way of not dealing with emotional trauma. Until it actually hits you in the face.
Of that team, Evely won the Variant Cover Artist, with Best Penciller/Inker, Cowles for Best Latering and the first issue, Tula Lotay, to be Best Cover Artist. The book itself was nominated for the Best Limited Series, King for Best Writer, Lopez’s Best Coloring, and Best Cover Artist himself for the second nomination.
Our own Steve Baxi wrote a detailed analysis of the book’s themes and stories earlier this year. I highly recommend reading. Here, I am mainly looking at the artwork and going on a slightly different path here.
“She continued that vein for the rest of our journey, ignoring my approval to improve her behavior while trying to shock me with her upbringing scandal.”
Bilquis Evely has a style reminiscent of illustrations from classic books such as Randolph Caldecott and John Tenniel. The hatching and the lines that work well are examples that give texture in black and white and are beautifully given to chapter headings. I think this is fitting for a story that blends fiction and reality in multiple ways, especially when its central conceit is from the pulp writer’s world.
Like the story itself, there are multiple layers of how the story is presented through the artwork. It features two major presentations, one of the framing stories, and a borderless panel. It’s like the top level of the story, the position where the overall story is told. Second, the story tells the more complicated world. There are many permutations within these two frameworks. It is relatively ordinary, with the bottom filled with overlapping layouts and much of Ivaly’s fantastic design for creatures and adventures. And Windone’s ramblings mansion itself.
Evely’s line art is further enhanced with Matheus Lopes colours. Lopes uses a limited color scheme, mainly yellow, blue and purple, to make your linework shine. In most cases, it creates a large part of the atmosphere of the story of the era. Through the depiction of Evely’s clothing and colour, it feels like it’s set at a different time. And when we get some blue explosions of different colours of green green, it really pops in contrast.
“I saw monsters, Lilith, and the gods. There are so many gods.”
Clayton Cowles has received an award for more than Helen of Windawn. His lettering has adorned books of books ranging from mainstream comics in Batman to bespoke creator-owned comics like FML and the book itself. With his lettering, he gives each book a unique voice and style. The letters here from him reflect the complexity of the story.
Much of the book is told through narration from Lilith Appleton, where she gets the text of a mixed case of cursive in a purple narration box. What I find interesting is that the perspective changes at some point throughout the nested story, but the style of the text remains the same, only the colour change from orange to orange to represent Helen. That’s one of the factors that made me wonder about something. How reliable is the narrator Lilith? It’s not necessarily supported anywhere in the text itself, but it’s an interesting bit for a book with two seemingly contradictory doctrines: “Fantasy is real” and “Not all seen.”
Overall, Window’s Helen by King, Evely, Lopez and Cowles is a fascinating piece. Melds storytelling methods to present pictures of young girls dealing with their father’s sudden death and discovering family secrets. In doing so, you are trying to find similarities in your identity. Through a world of fantasy presented in a gorgeous way.
Classic comic big concept: Helen of Window
Helen of Window
Author: Tom King
Artist: Bilquis Evely
Colorist: Matheus Lopes
Letter: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Dark Horse Comic
Release date: March 13th – November 13th, 2024 (original issue)
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