Divided Kingdom

‘Divided Kingdom’ Issue 1 Full Review.

Back in May 2014 I had the privilege of interviewing comic writer Andy Hamilton about his project ‘Divided Kingdom’ with co-writer Bill Clarke and artist Adam Oehlers. The project was in the middle of a crowdfunding campaign at the time, but soon gathered enough attention and enough cash to birth its creation. Andy kindly sent over a signed copy for me recently (much appreciated sir) so I sat down with a nice cup of earl grey and opened its pages.

I’m a pretty good judge of character when it comes to comics. I knew ‘Divided Kingdom’ was something special after reading the synopsis and inspecting the few pages released by the team during the crowdfunding campaign.

I’m a very kinesthetic learner, so my interest in ‘Divided Kingdom’ initially came from the artwork by Adam Oehlers. Extremely detailed panels of almost portrait stylized characters, but with a caricature hint in their features. Oehlers drawings are gorgeously intriguing and you always find something new in each panel every time you look. The production values of the book are tremendous.

I’ve read a few crowdfunding books and unfortunately the production quality sometimes isn’t the best, but ‘Divided Kingdom’ is high gloss in every way and on the money. Its possibly one of the best looking comics I’ve held in quite some time.

Story-wise ‘Divided Kingdom’ is based on a dystopian, futuristic Britain that has been ravaged by a flood and anything below a certain altitude has been submerged underwater. Britain has gone from being an island to collection of several and the remaining population has been relocated to tempory housing on whatever high ground remains. Their savior comes in the guise of Chairman Dereck Lock who owns the biggest technology firm in the world ‘Lock Technologies’, which later becomes ‘BritCorp’. By 2031 Lock stages a hostile takeover bringing Britain under his control.

We jump into the story as the population is now basically in a state of fascist slavery, every day is a Monday (literally). Its here we meet Dan, an accountant who seems like a lonely character, geeky looking with tousled hair and spectacles. We watch as Dan is exposed to a chemical manufactured by BritCorp and as everyone else’s eye-sockets are bursting with blood, Dan seems to suck in its mysterious power which will obviously result in otherworldly side effects.

I couldn’t judge fully the writing of the book from reading a few pages back in May, but after sitting with this first issue I can now confirm that Hamilton & Clarke are extremely talented gentlemen indeed. They are building a mythological universe that reminded me of a British-Matrix. The dialogue is very English but the potential in concept is tremendously epic.

This is just a teaser of course of what is to come. What this book gives the reader is enough material to wet their appetites and beg for more. The writing skills of Hamilton & Clarke conjoin so well with Oehlers art that this could be the start of something very special. I truly hope these guys get the recognition they deserve as ‘Divided Kingdom’ is a stunning piece.

Review by- FOLKLORE
Twitter @folkloreart
@SlaughteredBird