Briar vol. 2: Sleep No More

The titular quest being to save the ruined land from the machinations of Briar’s surviving fairy godmother, Gudrid.  At her side are the Norrish (Orcish) Spider, witch-in training Roop, and the undead skeleton Captain Bly and they… have no real idea how to stop her.  So they’re doing odd jobs until they figure it out.  Jobs like rescuing a stolen cow, which gets them into trouble with the local constabulary.  One swift, bloody, and deadly encounter later and Briar is cursing the incompetence that led to this only for the land to answer her cry.  Whatever trouble she and her friends were in before is nothing compared to what awaits them now.

It took a while for this second volume to arrive, but it was worth the wait.  “Quest of the Cursed” feels like proper Middle Act business as things get worse for Briar, Spider, Roop, and Bly as they’re split up, imprisoned and subject to specialised forms of abuse, yet manage to come out better for it in the end.  Writer Christopher Cantwell brings his trademark sense of quirk to the proceedings with results both strange, suspenseful, and surprisingly funny.  New artist Alex Lins gives the story a gritty, grungy look that helps make its brand of fantasy distinct, while also making the cast a lively bunch as well.  I can’t say that vol. 2 is substantially different or better than vol. 1 to convince those who weren’t interested to give it a look, but anyone who was enchanted the first time out is going to want to pick this up.