Past the Last Mountain is more than a fantasy comic: it is an exciting, heartfelt action story that uses interactions between fairy-tale characters and government officials to create an effective social commentary. Allor's narrative soars gracefully from page to page on the wings of Joyce's nuanced artwork. The characters are complicated, which makes them refreshingly relatable, and the story is relevant. In a 2013 lecture for the Reading Agency, author Neil Gaiman noted the benefits of escapism, arguing that fantasy worlds offer readers a safe place to acquire knowledge and tools with which to better tackle problems in real life. Past the Last Mountain offers this sort of fantasy world"use it. Read Full Review

I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but this was pretty cool. What was a little odd was just how innocent the fantasy creatures are made to look, like, we get the idea? If you make them too magnanimous, you'll lose complexity.