REVIEW: Jinnrise #3

Lahasad-Brim, an exiled warrior for the Kibrani, is featured in this third issue of Jinnrise by Sohaib Awan and Tony Vassallo. Why was he exiled from his people? Was it for crimes against alien-kind or something deeper? Major Spoilers finds out!

JINNRISE #3
Writer: Sohaib Awan
Artist: Tony Vassallo
Letterer: Ed Brisson
Colorist: Timothy Yates
Editor: Chris Schraff
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99

Previously in Jinnrise: Andrew Marcus had everything he knew about the world turned upside down as he came face to face not only with an alien race called the Kibrani, but a young boy named Yunus and a member of the Jinn called Jabal. When they are attacked, Salim entrusts the life of Yunus to Andrew and the two boys flee with Jabal. The great jinn also revealed his own history and the complicated story of the jinn themselves. In a last ditch effort, the Kibrani attempt to tap Lahasad-Brim to take out the mighty blue Jinn.

PHILOSOPHY AND ALIENS

Lahasad-Brim’s history is revealed. The Kibrani soldier was a mighty warrior and the fiercest of all his people, but he always had a nagging question in the back of his mind. It’s not until the Kibrani attempt to invade and violently subdue the people of Compendum that he sees a whole culture dedicated not only to knowledge, meditation and discovery, but one that is fiercely protective of one secret they have guarded for a millennia. And, finally, Lahasad-Brim gets the answer to the question that has been tearing him apart.

This particular book sets itself apart from the previous issues because of Awan’s artful development of the Kibrani people and his introduction of the Compendi. The compare and contrast between the two peoples, one a warring people and the other a pacifistic knowledge based culture, provides for an interesting interaction between Lahasad-Brim himself and the mysterious Compendi oracle. Awan has further fleshed out an already interesting universe, one that poses a lot of interesting philosophical questions on the nature of war, peace and deciding one’s own place in the universe at large.

The relationship between the Kibrani and the Jinn will be an interesting thing for Awan to follow through with in upcoming issues.

GIANT HORSES OF DOOM!

This book, with its main focus on the Kibrani themselves, provides a lot of artistic details that we haven’t really gotten to see before. The details had been more or less obscured as greater emphasis was placed on the jinn or the humans in the story, and rightly so in this case. However, it is nice to see what the Kibrani look like. Extraordinary amounts of detail have been paid in order to flesh out the Kibrani and Lahasad-Brim himself, with everything from their muscles and veins to their armor and weapons being carefully planned out by Tony Vassallo.

What really would have made the art come to life would be if slightly more attention was paid to the landscape and the details in the background. A lot of it is fairly general and hard to distinguish, but that’s forgivable given the artistic focus put on the aliens themselves.

THE BOTTOM LINE: COOL ISSUE

This is a good issue to pick up if you’ve been following the series so far or if you enjoy a good philosophical debate. It’ll be nice to see what Awan continues to cook up as far as these alien species and cultures go. Plus, Vassallo’s attention to detail really made the Kibrani in particular come alive. Together Awan and Vassallo have created a really viable and interesting culture.  Jinnrise #3 earns 4 out of 5 stars.

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