The Review Daemon: I, Mummy – Volume #1

Synopsis:

Written, drawn and colored by Andy Purviance, I, Mummy is an interesting story set in a 22nd century where 19th century predictions of the future came true. Everyone has a flying machine, household machines, and interesting contraptions, but no one has cell phones, computers or internet. It follows the adventures of Jane Webb, a young girl who discovers an amulet with power over death. Which is lucky for her, as it brings her back as a mummy (we are led to believe, at least) after she gets accidentally murdered.

Sound interesting? It is. It’s a retro-futuristic magical adventure!

What I Liked:

The entire premise of I, Mummy is inherently interesting. Creator Andy Purviance built an entire, rich world inspired by and based on Victorian ideas of the future like the image below.

It’s quite a clever idea, and Andy makes good use of it to create an interesting world that feels both old and new.  It’s a little bit of a Steampunk feel (“Steampunk Lite”, he calls it), a little bit of an old newspaper comic feel, that combines quite nicely for a fresh world for the story to take place in.

Speaking of the old newspaper comic vibe, this is something Andy has done intentionally.  It’s not my most favorite art style to look at, but it is the right stylistic choice for the subject matter and really works quite well.  It’s obvious he spends a lot of time crafting the pages, and they are technically good, from my non-artist perspective at least 🙂

The characters are developed well without spending too much time on exposition, and without revealing too much about them all at once.  This allows for some nice potential for untrustworthy narrators and an air of mystery as we learn more about them slowly.

What I Didn’t:

I mostly like I, Mummy, but there are some things that could potentially improve.  The language/speech patterns of the characters are maybe a little TOO future Victorian British at times.  It creates the feel and environment very well, but can be a little difficult to parse sometimes.  Andy does provide a dictionary however to help.  And while the visual style fits the tone and content of the story, it isn’t the most visually appealing in and of itself.

I, Mummy has a Facebook, but is lacking a social media presence on some of the other major social networks.  These might be something to consider making to broaden its reach.

Summary:

In summary, I, Mummy is a fun story with compelling characters in an interesting world.  It makes good use of a visual style that fits the world and the story.  It’s interesting and fun and even has some good humor in it.  I heartily recommend that you check out Volume #1 online, as an ebook, or in print.

4/5 stars.