A series the whole family can enjoy.

This is a little different from what I’m use to; I haven’t had to review an all-ages comic book before. And I figured it wouldn’t really be my cup of tea. But I’m happy to report, I was pleasantly surprised. This was a really good comic.

Not that I thought this was going to be bad, but as I said before, with it being for all-ages, I was worried I might have trouble with it. I generally stick to mature content and adult humor books. Family friendly stuff usually bores me. Luckily, that was not the case with this series of books.

Farlaine is a shaman from the forest of Fin-Din. He has spent years wandering the very many Oddlands of Wug in search of a forest to call his own. Accompanying him on his journey is a little tree, Ehrenwort, that he plans to plant when he finally finds his forest.

As Farlaine makes his way through the different Oddlands, he befriends a lot of cool and interesting characters. It’s a very fun adventure and the story sucks you right in.

One of the things that I enjoyed character wise was Farlaine’s ability to use seeds to make things to help him get out of different jams. I thought that was a very unique and creative addition to the story.

The art is outstanding in this series of books. Mr. Grumble balances the story and art seamlessly, and you can tell he has put in the work when it comes to the building of this world. The use of the black and white is also done very well.

But I think if it were in color it might better attract a younger audience. Plus the art is done so well it just screams for color to really add another element to the story. You get a taste of it on the covers, but sometimes you want the whole cake.

It seems the color on the covers is done by Jean-Francois Beaulieu, (on book 4 at least) who I think does a marvelous job. But I believe there are alternate covers done by different people. So, my apologies if I’m missing any additional artist or if Mr. Grumble did some coloring himself. And personally, I’d love to see a whole Farlaine book done in color. Even so, I have no complains about the art whatsoever. It’s top notch in my book.

farlaine cover 4.JPG — Cover via Farlaine the Goblin official website.

A cool thing in the back of these books is all the behind the scenes stuff. You get to see a couple of drawings of the first incarnation of Farlaine, which is quite different from what you’ll find in the finished series. I think this is a nice added bonus.

We just got a PDF of the series sent to us so we could try to get a review done sooner than later. But Mr. Grumble was nice enough to agree to send us physical copies once the newest issue comes out.

So we’ll be able to a more in-depth review later on. But I found this series too good not to get the word out earlier. If you or someone you know is looking for something fun that their kids can also read, this is a good title for them.