Review of Jewel Knights: A fun, coming-of-age new comic series from Dusk Wave Arts

This week, I’ve been lucky enough to have been given a sneak peek at the first issue of Jewel Knights; a new coming-of-age online comic series featuring a young superhero duo hellbent on saving the world from (primarily British) supervillains!

The story follows “a teenage superhero duo with extraordinary powers”. From the Dusk Wave Arts blog:

Nick and Jack dream of being superheroes thrashing British supervillains to a pulp! After discovering a top-secret experiment that could give them superpowers, the two boys set off a chain reaction that blows the lab to smithereens and zaps their bodies – giving their friendship crystals an eerie glow. The Jewel Knights is a funny, superhero duo with a lot to learn about themselves and their new powers who try their hardest to save the world without blowing it up along the way! Through the Jewel Knights’ adventures, we explore themes of friendship, identity, and the courage to stand up against injustice.

Hmmm. Why only British supervillains, eh?! As a British reviewer, I see I have a choice here, I think, as I spin a pair of metal baoding balls in my hand, as I exclaim ‘Mwahahahahahahaaah’ … just kidding.

First impressions

The comic itself is very well-designed, with eye-catching colours, interesting locations and fun-looking characters. My first impression upon reading the interactions between the characters is that I’m definitely NOT the target audience for this comic (which is aimed at kids) – and that’s okay.

When you’re of a certain age and demographic, fart joke and smelly underwear humour can go a long way! I was still entertained, and can see that issue one of Jewel Knights is a fun, engaging read where we’re just getting to know the lay of the land – without it being boring.

Characters and plot

I don’t want to give too much of the plot away, but in the first issue, we’re introduced to Nick and Jack, with their first foray into supervillain fighting features a British mega boss… or does it? All isn’t as it first seems…

As I sat there drinking my tea, I really enjoyed some of the stereotypical British villain references – and was hoping the eels were going to lead to everyone’s favourite Cockney villain The Hitcher (of Mighty Boosh fame) but alas, we can’t have everything.

The character design is very distinct, so you can both easily tell characters apart, but also see a family resemblance between Nick and his brother.

From the first issue, I can already tell that there’s a lot more coming to the story, and it’s left me intrigued as to where it’s going to go with these boys, and the world they’re part of.

Accessibility

When it comes to accessibility, for the most part the backgrounds are single colour or fairly simple. This is a particularly positive thing for younger audiences, as it allows them to concentrate on the story or the speech bubble.

Another thing I really like about Dusk Wave Arts and accessibility is that you’ll soon be able to read their digital comic titles soon on Comics Immersion, where each page turn comes with audio packs to enable you to immerse yourself further into each unique universe. And I think that’s pretty damn cool.

Overall

I think the first issue of Jewel Knights is a promising start to the series, and seems a humorous, engaging read for young people. The themes of courage, identity and standing up against injustices really appeal to me, so I’m excited to find out where it’s going to go for this duo.

Thank you so much, Dusk Wave Arts! I had a blast reviewing this.

Want to read Jewel Knights, or think it’d be perfect for someone you know? It will be released on November 6th, so WATCH THIS SPACE.

What do you think of our Jewel Knights review – would you like to see more about comics aimed at young audiences, like Jewel Knights and The Monster Fun Collection we recently covered?