Curia Regis

Creator: Robin Hoelzmann

So last weekend my love of the comics medium was reinvigorated after attending the International Comic Festival in Kendal. There were some great events to attend. Hearing Bryan Talbot talking about the history of anthropomorphism was a joy, and Peter Doherty talking to Sean Phillips about his journey through comics was incredible, especially as there was an exhibition of Sean Phillips' work in the centre (as well as numerous exhibitions throughout Kendal). Equally as thrilling was the Comics Clock Tower, full of creators to whom you could chat and buy their work.

It is here in the tower that you get a real sense of how vibrant the comic scene is in Britain. It is here that you can come across some unexpected gems. It is here that you find something like Curia Regis for sale.

At the point at which I picked up this comic, I was really wandering whether I could justify the expense of a completely different book. I'd spent more than I wanted (actually that's a lie – I'd spent less than I'd wanted but more than I knew my (non comics reading) wife would tolerate) when two books caught my eye. The first was Widdershins by Kate Ashwin, which looks amazing and is definitely on my list of things to buy post pay day. The Widdershins artist was not at the table, but the Robin Hoelzemann, the brains behind Curia Regis, was and she showed me Widdershins and then drew attention to her own comic. A little description of what it contained, and a look at the interior art and I was sold. Three issues on special offer for the festival were quickly snapped up.

Now as I've already mentioned, I'd bought quite a few comics already (reviews of which will be appearing here) but the first comics I read on returning home that night were the Curia Regis issues. It's been five days since I bought them, and I've read them three times already. Needless to say, I like this comic.

The storyline takes place in an analogue of eighteenth century France. In 1724, with the mob at the gates, the Duke of Astair kills himself. Twenty six years later in January 1740, the King Regent's nephew and the King Regent's spymaster kill each other in a duel, manipulated by the Marquise Maren Reinette D'Astair. We then learn more about Maren, her family, friends and motives, or some of them.

The story is very much in its infancy, but is intriguing in and of itself. The comic itself is quite a dense, rewarding reading experience. Nothing is spoon fed to the reader. As an example, the years between the prologue when the duke commits suicide, and chapter one when the duel takes place, can only be deduced when, at the start of issue 2 there is a notice of an auction taking place on 3^rd April 1740, and a caption reveals we are three months from the duel. Following the death of the spymaster, Maren finds a note with a list of rebels. This list contains the names of several of Marin's friends and associates, some of whom are revealed as we read more about our main protagonist. This is the sort of stuff that makes rereading the issues such a pleasure, and it provides a certain amount of intellectual satisfaction when you start to piece things together. A little work gives a great deal of pleasure, as any reader of literary novels will acclaim.

Aesthetically this books looks beautiful. A great deal of thought seems to have gone into the presentation. Opening each issue shows the inside cover to be a maroon which for some reason strikes me as very regal, especially with the simple but elegant dark stripe down the outside edge. My description doesn't really do it justice, but it is something that really adds to the overall look.

Interior art is very pleasing to the eye, all clean lines and clear page design lead the eye nicely across the panels. There is a great deal of attention to body language. In the prologue we see the duke's servant Timothy suspiciously nervous. There isn't a panel he in which we see him when he isn't doing fiddling, or rubbing his hands together, or twitching. It's subtly, but effectively done. In Curia Regis we never see static figures in the background either. Everybody seems to be doing something that evokes the feel of a world populated by real people, of which we are only able to focus on one particular story. From the second issue the art switches from black and white to colour. I'm not sure why there was a shift, but it works well, adding an extra dimension to the art, with the colours seemingly carefully chosen to enhance the work, resisting the danger to suddenly make it all kaleidoscopic.

All in all this is a wonderful book to find. The comic is online here so you can click and see what you think (and that's also the reason I've not posted any interior art here - go to the website and see it in context of the story). I strongly advise you to buy the physical comics themselves, for ease of rereading and cross referencing, and simply because they are beautiful and deserve a wider audience. From what I've read, Robin has quite a busy job so I suspect issue four is going to take a while, but it is definitely something worth waiting for.