That is the creed of the Vinelord, a green-skinned warrior clad in wooden armor, who looks like a cross between one of Zack Snyder’s 300 Spartans and a creature from The Legend of Zelda.
Raven Stories’ Vinelord Volumes 1 and 2, totaling an impressive 66 pages written by Brigham Porter with art by Dawson J Weidrich, tap into the mysterious protector’s mythology, and introduce the riveting origin of Trystan Wiles.
I turned to this book feeling plump overfed on corporate storytelling. I needed something indie that didn’t stink of multiverse shenanigans. Vinelord seemed as any a good a place to start, having myself long been a fan of Weidrich’s art, and I had no expectations besides the vague Swamp Thing comparison many readers will presumably draw on impulse. Vinelord is very much its own beast though.
(SPOILER WARNING)
ROOTS BELOW: THE ORIGIN OF TRYSTAN WILES
A brief overture depicts an electrifying battle between the Vinelord of 1052 AD and a demonic trio. Solemn narration over the hack-n-slash sets the story’s dramatic, violent tone. Sadly this is the last we see of this Vinelord for now, but the scene suggests that Vinekind have been around for centuries at least.
The book’s true story begins at the Wiles Family Plantation in 1892 Baton Rouge, where Trystan Wiles and his young brother Ash pick cotton on a hot afternoon. Serene fields paint an enviable life for Trystan. The boys then come home to find their mother crying though. She has been hurt again. A vase lies smashed on the floor by their father, a decorated soldier returned from war. “He didn’t mean it, it was an accident,” Trystan’s mother says as he looks emptily at his father’s cruel portrait.
Trystan’s unmoved expression echoes Ryan Gosling’s performance in Blade Runner 2049 of a character so close to their breaking point that their capacity to react is impaired. Our hero does react, however, by taking Ash fishing while a nearby storm closes in. He knows his father wouldn’t approve but to hell with what the old man thinks. It’s this small act of rebellion that faces Trystan with a choice, fateful in ways he could never imagine, when his brooding devil of a father intercepts his trek back home…
His father being the antagonist of his ordinary world I thought made Trystan’s origin unique. It seems common of heroic stories that the bad parent trope is a revelation of their extraordinary journey; a dramatic reveal that shatters the core of their beliefs. Not their status quo. Similarly, their heroic origin often arises when their internal comfort zone is threatened by an external force. Everything is fine until it’s not.
But the Wiles patriarch has an expressed history of being a bastard, and Trystan’s resentment towards him seems almost beyond forgiveness. Nothing is fine, everything is awry. That is his status quo. It could of course also be argued that his father’s time away in the war has allowed the eldest Wiles son to configure a comfort zone excluding his father, making the estranged character his external threat. Though his story beginning in a place of misery beyond the mundane feels almost like the proper makings of villain, or a disturbed anti-hero at the very least.
There is obviously still so much to learn of Trystan’s complex story. He bravely displays both natural goodness by defending another character in a fight he knows he can’t win, and a reluctance to power when offered. Two heroic traits just right there. Perhaps these creative choices are simply taking account of the world’s morality being grayer than our favorite stories often portray. They are nevertheless appreciated nuances for nuanced times.
BRANCHES ABOVE: THE EXECUTION
Vinelord is packed with action, suspense, and most importantly, sincerity. Volume 1 has at times an expected amateurish charm, being the first book released by Raven Stories, but is an inspired work with care sewn into every line, written or drawn.
Volume 1’s art relies mostly on color to create value. Line art is less pronounced than Weidrich’s later work. Being familiar with Dawson’s more recent art, I realized how far he’s come in making his pieces pop. Here are only a few pages that made a striking impression though (DIALOGUE AND NARRATION REDACTED):
Porter’s script is equally clean. It averts trying too hard and never gets in the way of the art. 1892 Baton Rouge dialect could have shone more, but the script’s narration is a believable and solid guide for this page turner.
And I wouldn’t levy criticism for criticism’s sake. It is impossible to calculate how much tireless work goes into an independent book. It was because of book 1’s forgivable, sometimes even admirable, shortcomings that I was downright gobsmacked at Volume 2’s upgrade across the board.
Volume 2: The Vinelord Reigneth is an impressive indie comic.
The script this go round is punchier and has more attitude. It both reflects a seasoned protagonist (Reigneth partly taking place as many as forty years since Volume 1) and signifies a practiced writer. One notable improvement is Porter’s usage of timing for Vinelord’s unexpected quips.
Weidrich likewise returns with a complete style revamp. He employs darker color schemes heavy on black digital ‘inks,’ fuller and more complex shapes, and richer textures. It’s a tattoo-esque look akin to the DJW trademark style, where cross-hatching complements deeper color shading than the previous volume. The art’s three-dimensional depth goes in hand with the its most striking feature; dynamic perspectives.
Objects reach beyond panel confines, shadows are as engulfing to the reader as to the characters they obscure. It’s these artistic components that together make the reader feel wholly part of the action.
The plot itself drives forward intricately with splicing of flashback sequences. Reigneth after all picks up from a hazy forest at the end of Vol 1, and revolves this story around a future timeline that has Trystan battling evil...
Volume 2 poses more questions to the origin of the Vinelords; The quasi-religious pre-determination aspect, the fate of previous Vinelords, and of course, how much Trystan has to give before the mantle passes on again…But the biggest puzzle leads us back to the beginning.
To Defend All Living Things at All Cost.
Sounds altruistic enough… but can it be done? Any ecosystem will tell you that death is not only a part of life but that life itself is a death-giving force.
The paradox of the Vinelord’s purpose is I think by design. This creed could be concerned merely with the protection of human life from supernatural evil. However, the character’s creators have opened up a bottomless ravine of slippery slopes for Trystan to stumble on.
What happens when those that Trystan loves war against each other? How will he handle human evils with supernatural evils? How can he prioritize one life over another? Is he warrior or peacekeeper?
These entanglements, it occurred to me, are their own kind of vinery. One that Trystan may find he’s far from Lord of.
These questions will hopefully receive answers in (God-willing) bountiful subsequent issues of this character. Regardless, wherever the obscured steps of Trystan’s mission take him next, Volume 3 of Vinelord can’t come soon enough.
Purchase Vinelord Volumes 1 & 2, and other Raven Stories tales,
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