Review – Briar #5 (BOOM! Studios)

May 14, 2024

3–4 minutes

Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Writer: Christopher Cantwell
Artwork: Alex Lins
Colourist: Luis NCT
Lettering: AndWorld Design
Release Date: 15th May 2024

After what feels like an eternity (but is actually only a little over a year), BOOM! Studios’ Briar is back this week with a brand new story arc. Eisner Award-nominated writer Christopher Cantwell is joined by artist Alex Lins this time around, replacing Germán García, but I’m happy to report that the latest issue features the same blend of violence, profanity and dark fantasy that catapulted the series firmly into our Best of 2022 list.

For those new to the story, it’s essentially an alternate take on Sleeping Beauty where the handsome prince decides to forego the kiss and do a little warmongering instead, leading to the princess – in this case young Briar Rose – awakening from her slumber a hundred years later to a world that has fallen into decay and disrepair, with all manner of monsters, cannibals and worse roaming the land.

The first arc pulled back the veil a little on the scheme that led to Briar’s unnatural slumber, and the conspiracy by Grendrid, her malevolent fairy godmother who killed the other six godmothers on her way to seizing control of the entire realm. It also saw our foul-mouthed heroine joined by a collection of eclectic allies – including Roop, an apprentice witch, a cold-blooded Norrish named Spider and the reanimated bones of the fabled hero Captain Bly – on her journey to put things right.

This latest arc kicks off with our quartet doing a little light bounty hunting to build up some coin to help them find a way to get closer to Grendrid an exact a little revenge. However, Gendrid is still haunting Briar’s infrequent dreams, spinning a different version of the tale where the young princess herself is the curse that will destroy the world and that the godmother was simply doing her best to protect the realm. It’s a neat wrinkle to the story that, if the events of this issue are to be believed, may be a little truer than we all thought.

Once again, Cantwell’s dialogue adds a lot of the distinctive flair to the story, blending dry humour with foul-mouthed depravity and high fantasy pathos. The interactions between the four companions is utterly hilarious at times, and I absolutely love the blend of traditional medieval fantasy dialogue (“Stay your hand! The last thing we need is to spill the blood of the law!”) and more contemporary profanity (“Yeah! So bugger off, sheriff pudding-dick!”)

While I was undoubtedly a huge fan of García’s work on the first arc, Lins fills in admirably here, capturing the same chaotic energy that fans of the series will have come to expect. There’s a definite shift in style, with Lins utilising a more heavily-inked approach, but the action still flows beautifully, the characters are distinct and wonderfully expressive, and the whole thing hums along nicely. A special shout-out is also due for Luis NCT, who does a fantastic job with the colour work, shifting us from different locales and deftly conveying different moods with his rapidly changing palette.

It’s always a challenge to stay invested in a series when there’s such a significant gap between story arcs, let alone when that delay comes with a fairly substantial change to the creative team, but Briar has handled the transition beautifully, expanding on its dark, irreverent mythos in exciting new ways and setting up what promises to be one hell of a second arc. If your like your fairy tales dark, twisted and gloriously foul-mouthed then this is most definitely the series for you.

Rating: 4.5/5.

[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]