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knightbunnie 's review for:
Squire
by Nadia Shammas
The image of a knight is superimposed against a gleaming sword of honor, armor of glory, and patriotism glowing like sunlight in the wielder’s raised arm. Sara Alfageh and Nadia Shammas’ “Squire” burns this tapestry to the ground, challenging the white-centric idea of duty in a beautiful Middle Eastern fantasy world.
The premise immediately had me buying it, the art absolutely gorgeous with perfect coloring and a heavy weight to the graphic novel itself! I fell in love with the illustrations of the world, where civilization continued on as our protagonists fought tooth and nail to survive in the military.
I was always astounded and had to take a moment to think of how this reflected our modern military and the disillusioned desire to be a hero. It’s inherently selfish, but the need to be a hero is highlighted and our ragtag team doesn’t let it destroy them. In fact, Azai, Husni, Sahar, and Basem each interpret it differently and stay true to their values at the end of the day. This graphic novel brilliantly describes the difference between sacrifice and destruction, the importance of found family, and remembering what you’re fighting for.
I would love to see more world building from this universe and go into deeper research of the diverging nations’ history! I wish it didn’t feel so rushed but I completely understand this is a hard thing to navigate for visualization, but this would make the best paperback concept ever!
(Husni may be LGBT+, but it is never officially said!)
The premise immediately had me buying it, the art absolutely gorgeous with perfect coloring and a heavy weight to the graphic novel itself! I fell in love with the illustrations of the world, where civilization continued on as our protagonists fought tooth and nail to survive in the military.
I was always astounded and had to take a moment to think of how this reflected our modern military and the disillusioned desire to be a hero. It’s inherently selfish, but the need to be a hero is highlighted and our ragtag team doesn’t let it destroy them. In fact, Azai, Husni, Sahar, and Basem each interpret it differently and stay true to their values at the end of the day. This graphic novel brilliantly describes the difference between sacrifice and destruction, the importance of found family, and remembering what you’re fighting for.
I would love to see more world building from this universe and go into deeper research of the diverging nations’ history! I wish it didn’t feel so rushed but I completely understand this is a hard thing to navigate for visualization, but this would make the best paperback concept ever!
(Husni may be LGBT+, but it is never officially said!)