7/10, a rather interesting novel, with some sort of plant disease that reminisces of Green Rising. ( )

I just finished WYND, BOOK 1: THE FLIGHT OF THE PRINCE by James Tynion IV & Michael Dialynas, from @boom_studios, and I loved it! What seems at first a cute little fantasy turns into a story with deep messages about xenophobia and standing up for what’s right. Wynd, a young boy with magical blood, must stay hidden from the close-minded people of Pipetown, who will go to almost any lengths to prevent the magic outside their town walls from infecting the last “true” humans in the world. He gets accidentally wrapped up in a plot to spirit the prince of Pipetown out of the city so that he can give up his claim to the thrown to his uncle, who wants abolish the laws keeping those with magic away. Together with the castle gardener’s son, who Wynd dreams of having a normal life with, and his adopted sister, the 4 kids must band together in order to escape the King’s Men and get the prince to safety. Full of lush colors and fantastic, whimsical art along with a captivating story of both self-acceptance and learning to stand up for what is right, WYND is definitely a series I will be keeping up with. This volume collects the first 5 issues of the series. ( )

Wynd works out of sight in the secret rooms beneath the floorboards at the local tavern in Pipetown in Esseriel. He dreams of being “normal” and meeting the castle’s groundskeeper he spies on working. But Wynd has pointy ears, a sign of the magical blood that runs through him. Usually his shaggy hair could hide them, but recently they’ve grown bigger and are now harder to hide.

Following a series of events, now Wynd, joined by his best friend Oakley and two others, must set off on a journey to discover the magic in the world outside the walls of Esseriel and, most important, the magic within himself.

So, I kind of found this book on random while on my library’s Hoopla account - but I’ve always enjoyed James Tynion IV’s work and usually give his stuff a go. This is definitely different from his works like Something Is Killing the Children or The Closet - on the complete opposite end really, but I loved it so much.

I have a feeling the little group that has formed in this first book is shaping up to be a found family and that is absolutely one of my favorite troupes!

The art in this is beautiful and the color pallet just makes everything pop and stand out.

This is definitely going to be one I will start recommending to others and you can bet I’m going to be reading Book Two as soon as possible! ( )

Quite nice! The mostly sweet illustration style makes it all the more jarring when violence or images of twisted, mutated people appear, which is an effective method in making the story hit home with the reader. I'm having a little trouble judging ages of the characters; when Wynd's crush on Thorn was shown for the first time, I was a little put off, but I suspect I won't have to be concerned about it (in future books). Who knows? Maybe Wynd is actually much older than he looks?

Glad to see the end of the Bandaged Man, even if it's pretty clear that he was nowhere near boss-level antagonist. ( )