Mages #9

The ninth volume of Soleil's Mages — Guerres d'Arran saga arrives in 2023 with "Belthoran," and Kyko Duarte's cover sets a striking tone: a white-bearded mage, staff in hand, rides atop a massive, battle-scarred dragon whose fearsome jaws fill the foreground amid a tangle of dark, gnarled trees. The contrast between the elder sorcerer's composed authority and the raw, reptilian power beneath him suggests a relationship forged through long struggle rather than easy mastery. With writing by Jean-Luc Istin and art by Andrea Cuneo and Ornella Savarese, this chapter of the Arran wars looks to be a richly illustrated entry in one of French fantasy comics' more ambitious ongoing epics.