The opening of Mediterranea seems more like a monster-of-the-week story or an adventure of the moment tale. That doesn’t make it bad, but the isolation undermines the impetus the first two chapters delivered.
A Master Auraki consults a mage to locate an oracle and our heroines Alonisso and Eleni investigate an odd realm populated by an abundance of women and a scarcity of men, writers Guilliano Monni and Alessandro Cenni marginalize the malevolent angel women that attacked our heroines in the premiere. They do revisit these creatures, but the lion’s share of the book involves a reversal of fortune for the men of Lemnos, now the objects of purchase for women.
Gender reversal for the world’s oldest profession is an interesting start, but it’s just that. A start. There’s not enough expansion and incorporation of other elements into the central theme. Perhaps, Monni and Cenni will build on the idea.
While there’s some humor in Auraki’s visit with a mage, his consultation with a Titan housing an oracle stone doesn’t really seem necessary. It’s pretty. The Titan’s an impressive beast, but that’s about it.
This issue still bears Mediterranea’s strengths: gorgeous artwork, with a kind of Disney-for-adults design and an engaging cast, but the story strays, and both directions lack cohesiveness.