Title: Deck of Fates Chs. 1-29
Author: Jordan Troche (Story), CeciL (Art)
Publisher: Voyce.me
Language: English
Format: Digital
Genre: Fantasy, Action, Thriller, Supernatural
Publication Date: October 29, 2022 (Ongoing)
The Story
Deck of Fates is a webcomic that centers around a young boy named Locke. He wants to be a magician and begs his mother to buy a magician’s hat for him but she instantly recognizes that it’s fake and way overpriced. That night, she reads to him a fairy tale about a powerful magician that disobeyed The Paladins and fought between two sides of a war, emerging victorious.
Out of the blue, their village is attacked by The Ascendants, a military group under the control of the king and, apparently, a shadowy figure who wants the king to remember his place. They are there because an Arcana was detected in the village and they want to deal with it by any means necessary if it will not comply and return with them. Turns out that Arcana is Locke’s mother. Knowing that this could be her final stand, she passes her power on to Locke.
After the battle, Locke is taken in by an old acquaintance, The Hermit Arcana. Here, Locke begins a brand-new life where he will learn to harness his mother’s power.
Characters
Locke is our main character here and he has a nice mixture of maturity and naivety. While he has goals and aspirations, one must remember that he is still a child and her personality reflects that. Just like any impressionable child, he’s enthralled with the legend of the arcana that fought and won the war. It is that admiration that steers him down the path where he desires to be a magician himself. When the village is attacked, he needs to make a very difficult choice and does with the utmost wisdom and maturity… even if that decision would cause him great pain. This is why I say he has a nice mixture of traits.
As for the rest of the characters, I will just briefly touch upon them as I don’t want to give away too much but Locke’s mother played her role perfectly. She was a protective mother through and through and seemed to encourage Locke to follow his heart down the path of life.
The Hermit Arcana, being a friend of Locke’s mother, seemed friendly enough; however, he is filled with a bit of regret when he takes Locke in. Plus, it seems he is the type that goes off and does things on his own without much care or worrying about the burdens he places on others by doing so. This is quite evident when he returns to a certain place he has responsibility for with Locke and is confronted by the one who he left behind to pick up his slack!
Final Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed the story but I will say that it’s nothing really new or groundbreaking. I don’t mean that as a negative because, after all, I enjoyed it and want to see more. The characters set themselves apart in their personalities nicely and the story drags you in and immerses you in the world… everything a good comic should. The pacing felt a bit varied as some chapters had more dialogue than others while some seemed to have filler panels that weren’t really needed. I don’t think needed two panels of someone making a fist and then releasing that grip so some extra care on editing and filtering the storyboards to strike a better balance between art panels and story panels could help elevate this a bit higher.
As with a webcomic, readers love to indulge in the artwork so I do need to cover it here. The characters themselves are nicely drawn and all have their unique looks. The issue stems that some panels feel rushed. There are times when proportions and perspectives are off and it kind of breaks the immersion a bit. There are some backgrounds that look really rushed, too. Some look like a smattering of paint with very little detail or care put into them. In one particular instance, there was a dragon depicted in the early part of the strip and it, too, suffered from an unfinished look. When you see crisp characters on one panel and a blurry, low-detail smattering of color passing as a dragon on the next, it’s a jarring experience. The artist on the series certainly could have taken more time and care to promote quality control and consistency.
While the artwork could use improvement, it didn’t detract from the overall quality of the story. As I stated before, I enjoyed it and want to see more of it and even with the things that could be improved, it wasn’t enough to make me want to stop or give up on it. It’s a story I believe people will enjoy so I encourage you to check it out… especially since it’s free on Voyce.me!
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This item was suggested for review by the author.
