Bermuda

Script and Letters by: John Layman

Art and Main Covers by: Nick Bradshaw

Colours by: Len O’Grady

Alternative Covers by: Arthur Adams (#1), J. Scott Campbell with colours by Sabine Rich (#2), Mark Schultz (#3)

Editor: Scott Dunbier

Published by: IDW Publishing

Collects: Bermuda Issues #1 – #4 +

Plot:

Robert ‘Bobby’ Randolph’s life is about to change, when his father’s private jet crashes somewhere in within the Bermuda Triangle, with Robert himself on board. After washing up on a beach, Robert meets a strange young woman, along with some terrifying fish-men, who kidnap Robert’s sister for slave trade, but thanks to the aid of the young woman, who just so happens to be named Bermuda also, Robert is able to escape on the back of a large reptile.

However, Robert refuses to let his seven year old sister remain a slave to those terrifying Mer creatures, but finding someone to help on the island of Trangle, often only leads to more trouble, as the island is full of swashbuckling pirates, strange creatures, and magic. This is an island out of time, with traits that seem like something out of a fantasy book.

Meanwhile in the outside world, it seems like someone is trying to open a doorway to the mysterious island, and Robert’s father wants to get involved, in order to save his children. When the Mer creatures discover this plan through their blood magic, they vow to help the humans open the doorway between worlds, but they aren’t waiting for a friendly encounter, they’re ready to attack!

Will Robert be able to survive the harsh new world he has been tossed into? Will he be able to save his sister? And will the doorway between the two worlds ever be opened?

Story:

John Layman has created a story that is as exciting as it is intense, to say the least. Full of action packed sequences on an island shrouded in mystery, with all sorts of fantasy elements that leaves you wanting to explore the whole island. There is a great lore woven into the history of the island, some of which we get to read about, but I assume much of it is left unexplored…for now, at least in this first arc.

The young teenage boy, Bobby isn’t annoying as some young characters can often be in books, which is always a good thing, and the title character Bermuda is a badass! She has a lot of mystery around her, almost as much as the island does, if not more, so the reader is left with a lot of questions that will hopefully be answered in future story arcs.

The crossover between the two worlds adds a lot of variety to the types of characters that can be introduced into this world. In the first arc alone, we’ve had pirates, navy officers, and humans that arrive on a plane, but those are just the one’s who stumbled across the island. The exciting part is the natural beings of the island such as the Ver, the various creatures of unnatural sizes such as the Lizards and Spiders, and the Mer. It seems like this island is not just out of sight with the rest of the world, but out of time also, meaning you could bring in more prehistoric creatures that have thrived here, and also various other historic human civilizations such as Vikings (all of which are mentioned on the Map at the end of this book) so there are plenty more stories to come out of this island yet, for both the writer, artists and readers to explore!

Art:

Speaking of art, Nick Bradshaw’s art is incredible, as it really brings to life the unique creatures and beings of this island of Trangle. Together with Len O’Grady’s colours, the art in this book is bright, beautiful and quite frankly some of the best art I’ve seen in a book for a while, especially when it comes to the designs of characters.

With so many races, species and time periods merged into a singular story, the designs for the characters of this book are certainly unique without being unrecognizable. The pirates, for example, look as you’d expect pirates to look from their golden age of piracy, when there were more hook hands and peg legs, with large bushy beards and bad teeth, but the pirates in this story also have their own unique qualities that make them stand out from other books. The page in which we see the Pirate Tavern, is filled with all sorts of fun and unique designs that make each individual character in that tavern unique from any other on the page which just goes to show the level of detail that Bradshaw has put into this book.

The smooth digital colouring makes this book a delight to look at with it’s bright, vivid colours making each panel and page easy on the eyes, bringing to life the wonderous fantasy of the island, be it the deep greens of the jungle, the wooden browns of pirate taverns and their various techni-colour clothing. or the sea green colours of the Mers that give them their terrifying visage some real depth (pun intended).

Collected Edition:

Those of you who have read Bermuda already during it’s single issue releases should be aware that the collected edition TPB has lots of extras to offer. Between pages 95-128, there are LOADS of extras including variant covers, character designs, 2 short stories, page layouts and even a map! What more could you possibly want from a book that offers this much content!

Conclusion:

If you love fantasy mixed with the modern world, then this is a story for you. It has myster, magic and weird creatures with unique and awesome designs, so grab a copy and get reading. It’s a fantastical story of adventure and friendship that has plenty of action to keep the reader entertained from cover to cover.

This book will certainly be a hit with comic book fans who love action, adventure and fantasy.

Bermuda (TPB Edition) is available from the 1st of February 2022!