A new series from the YouNeek lineup is coming out soon and the company was so happy with it, they released a chapter for free! Who doesn't like free comics?! Well, maybe me, but...

A long time ago (Before the events of Windmaker and Malika) a great technologically advanced kingdom called Asiri was created with the help of celestial beings and some powered amulets. In the beginning of the book there's a battle between magical beings that's a bit confusing and the second half is a flashback before the events of the novel. It kinda reads as a Wakanda story, minus the panther god Bast's involvement.

The art is amazing as always with a YouNeek product. The color saturation makes almost every scene gorgeous. Their time spend working with Dark Horse has really improved their works but then again even E.X.O was really good. The only drawback I noticed was a little lack of shadowing. I think they forgot to draw them.

Anyway, it's a free comic that's really high quality and will make you want to read more in the series, especially if you're into sci-fi fantasy mashups. 5 out of 5 stars. You can read it for free for now on BookFunnel, at least until the whole thing comes out.

It’s finally here! And I forgot about it for months. But now that I’m stuck on a plane with nothing else to do for hours, I might as well get around to it. I probably should’ve waited until #2 was out because I can’t check the Internet here. Urrgghh.

The story is a continuation from the Fire & Fury series and the Windmaker series in that many of the old enemies return. Most of the heroes have come together and Malika is back from her mission in Zimbabwe to fight for the people. She is still looking for her evil nephew, who just happens to be Atala. And so does Lance, the man he tortured. After breking up the fight between them, the forces of Prytek show up. The great invasion long hinted has begun and the heroes are stuck together in Atala. And what is Malika’s vision warning her about? She is the leader and heavy hitter- without her, they and the continent are doomed. 

As usual the artwork is amazing. I see they’ve learned a few pointers from the Dark Horse team. The only real problem I have with the novel is the pacing. I feel like the exposition is really helpful, since I haven’t read the series in a long time, but other readers who’ve read sooner might be annoyed as the characters get caught up on the villains in the story. It’s a bit easier to read on computer than tablet as I had to zoom in a lot of the time.

As expected they’ve done a good job of binding the storylines together, though I remain annoyed with the series’ lack of new villains. Perhaps that will come later? Or maybe we should email the authors? I hear they’re really easy to get in touch with.

You can find their works at YouNeek Studios or on Amazon here.

Here we go! Y'all know I'm a big fan of everything YouNeek! It's hard not to get excited for a new release of the Iyanu series. Does this one maintain the awe of the first two issues? Well...

OK, I get it, it's geared more towards young folk than us crusty 40-somethings like me who read too much McFarlane growing up. But I feel this edition misses the mark on some ways. While I was very happy with the action and the leadup, I felt there was a bit too much chatter and drama. I'm concerned that some readers might only go halfway into the volume or skip over the dialog and focus on the visuals. At any rate, we find Iyanu and Biyi escaping the invasion and they rescue Toye the bookworm along the way to the source, while the people of the walled city rebel.

Speaking of the visuals, the artwork, pacing and framing remain top notch. The sequence is easy to follow, the proportions seem correct, and the animals enemies seem to pop out of the page. I wasn't a big fan of how they drew Iyanu as it wasn't as consistent throughout and I often got her mixed up with Biyi in some scenes. 

With the series set to go on the air on HBO MAX soon, I'm considering the possibility they frontloaded a lot of key material here to have enough for the show writers & animators to work with. Sometimes that's a bad thing (see later seasons of X-Men 93) but here I think it works. Another decent winner from the minds of YouNeek!

You can find Iyanu Vol 3 pretty much anywhere like Amazon and Kobo.