Angels Power Volume 1 is a comic written and drawn by Axel Hutt. Uneasy alliances, shifting loyalties, and outright battling are the hallmarks of this ongoing conflict between the Angels and the Diabolics. This is supernatural fantasy comic with, drama, espionage, heavy violence, and a large cast. The characters here can be separated into three main categories: Guardians/Angels, Dragons/Shapeshifters, and the Diabolics. The most prominent Angels here are: Evadrion, she is very determined and headstrong, Azazel, he cares about the plight of the Diabolics, Metatron, the most powerful and leader of the Angels, and Constance, the second-in-command. The Angels have wings that grow in size based on their power and have vast knowledge which is reset if they ever fall asleep. The most important Shapeshifter is Ravan the Tempest, his right-hand man is Mazer, and they are accompanied by a “witch” named Eithne. Shapeshifters can transform in cat-like, six foot long dragons that can fly very fast. The Diabolics are red-eyed beings with various abilities and a bad reputation, the three general groups of them are: the Astorians, the Heytorians, and the Proteusians. The story begins with a flashback before launching into the present where we see the Angels discussing how to move forward as they attempt to warn the various towns about the dangers of the Diabolics. We’ll also get a glimpse of some of the infighting as some Angels are seen as traitors for having sympathy. The violence here can be blade-heavy, explosive, gruesome which leads to some bloody and gory moments. The pacing here is overall steady with high chance of confusion as there are numerous flashbacks, changing perspectives, and time jumps with no explanation, but even if ou get a bit lost you should be able to get back on track. The tone here is that of a high fantasy tale with a focus on the intrigue and conflict. There are many intense moments due to danger, violence, and arguments. The dialogue is mainly conversational with a lot of back-and-forth as well as some occasional narration. There is really only one word-heavy page here. This is a violence and scheme-filled comic with a deep plot carried by a cast of characters who play their cards close to their chest.
The art here is smoothly detailed to it and there are many picturesque moments which can be attributed to the fact that this is painted. The color palette here seems to lean towards the realistic and gloomy with a majority of the tones being dark while featuring some strong shading. The scenery consists of snow-capped mountains and fields along with thick forests and scorched, windswept, or grassy plains. There are also numerous shots of the sky which changes frequently. Due to the constantly changing perspectives the location can be high up in air among the clouds to deep in cave. There are some towns visited with huts, taverns, and temples. Most of this story takes place outdoors. The backgrounds almost always show the surroundings which adds a bit more to the different situations. The expression level here is a average as most of characters are hard people who rarely show how they truly feel. We do get sadness and anger along with some happiness but we’ll mainly get a lack of varied looks overall. The faces have a decent amount of detail and usually show the different expressions clearly. There is some face sameness here and you will probably get more than a few characters mixed up on occasion. The dragon form of the Shapeshifters looks like cats if they had longer torsos. The mystical effects tend to be bright white or fiery. The violence here can be physical but it usually involves weapons from arrows to blades. There is some blood and gruesome attacks that lead to body-bursting gore but it isn’t as graphic as it could be. The action scenes come in bursts and tend to be a few pages each with a decent panel count and generally good flow.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes, if this is up your alley.
“Would I like this?”
If you like supernatural fantasy stories with large casts that feature drama, violence, and espionage then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Violence, gore, nudity, sexual situations.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“I hear there is an angel in hiding so I come for the hunt.”
Physical Link: https://apcomic.bigcartel.com/product/angels-power-volume-i
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1716327196/angels-power-volume-1-a-fully-painted-fantasy-epic/description
***** I received this review copy for free. *****
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 305
Violent Pages: 54, for 18% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 5, for 2% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 3
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 5
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 4
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 5
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
