These Savage Shores Issue #1 Review

Ram V and Sumit Kumar’s These Savage Shores issue #1 is a beautifully crafted fusion of European vampire lore and ancient Indian myth and culture.

Since creation, order and chaos have been designated as opposing forces, one bringing peace while the other wreaking havoc. When the colonialists came upon foreign lands, they sowed seeds of chaos to create disharmony among the natives, effectively dividing them and making it easier to bring them under order. Hence, there always has been an inherent relationship between order and chaos. However, the imperialists preferred the terms civilized and uncivilized. They deemed the natives of these invaded lands as uncivilized making it easier for them to bound the inhabitants in chains under the pretext of bringing the light of civilization of these dark shores.

These Savage Shores opens with the enigmatic Bishan and his lady love, Kori in a tryst among the lush and scenic greenery of the Malabar forest. As they talk about folk tales and civilization, the story shifts to the bleak architecture of 1760s London where a vampire named Lord Alain Pierrefont is almost killed by a vampire hunter. He is saved by his superiors and sent to Calicut. Here, Ram V pays homage to Bram Stoker through the epistolary nature of storytelling. The dialogues flow like poetry and has an air of mysticism about it. Letterer Aditya Bidikar’s choice of using cursive during correspondence makes them feel more personal. Bishan tells his lady love of his ancient origin - the reason for his immortality, and leaves to attend to the prince Vikram Mani, whom he serves as a bodyguard.

The quality of storytelling is accented by the cartoonist-colorist duo of Sumit Kumar and Vittorio Astone. We have usually seen how static nine-panel grids can be, case in point being Watchmen or Tom King’s works. But, Kumar’s dynamic use of the panels is reminiscent of the French comics, Imbattable and is one of the best uses of the nine-panel style till date. The passive aggressiveness of the prince when Pierrefont tells him that he feels at home in a foreign occupied land is well expressed through his facial expression.

Despite warning, Pierrefont rides into the night and finds Kori dancing gracefully in the temple. He gives into his primal nature and stalks the woman as she bathes in a pond. Here is where issue #1 ends with its inevitable twist.

Ram V uses European vampires as a metaphor for the colonialists who took occupied lands for granted and sucked them dry, with no regard for the ecosystem and resources. Issue #1 of These Savage Shores starts slow, building the world from the ground up, but ends with a bang. The creators leverage the somberness of the atmosphere to create a heightened sense of suspense among the pages, while using expansive panels to draw attention to the beauty of the landscape. Despite its pacing issues, the issue is very much enjoyable and the reader will be hooked for the next installment of Bishan and Kori’s love story as the repercussions of the epilogue play out.