Review: Suitor Armor: Volume 1

Suitor Armor: Volume 1 by Purpah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Since I've been reading some manga lately, I thought I'd review this graphic novel when it came up on Netgalley. It's not manga; it's Western, but it has some of the same feel as a fantasy manga.

Humans and fairies are at war, and so Lucia, a fairy girl, has to keep her wings hidden while she takes care of her mistress, the rather airheaded but non-toxic young betrothed of the serious, somewhat older king. Her mistress's father has apparently rescued her, in circumstances that will doubtless get a flashback in due course (not in this volume, though).

Meanwhile, the arrogant royal wizard has created an animated suit of armour, which defeats the previously undefeated champion knight (much to the knight's fury and humiliation; his squire has a tough job keeping him from going completely off the deep end, but he's not actually a bad person). The armour gives the rose that is the traditional prize for winning the tournament to Lucia, who starts treating the enchanted object as a person; he then starts growing into the role. Lucia discovers that she is able to use powerful magic, and does so while fairy spies are in the castle. We also get a revelation about the relationship between the knight and the squire. Nearly everyone is now keeping secrets from at least someone, and while nobody (apart from the spies) is an outright antagonist - and even they are somewhat sympathetic - differing perspectives and agendas combined with the secrets do put some of them at odds, while forging alliances among others.

Because this is Volume 1, it's mainly setup, rather than anything being at all resolved by the end. That means that it's mainly potential, not yet realized, and that, in turn, makes it difficult to evaluate. So far, none of the characters have a great deal of depth, but it's early days, and I suspect there could also be more tension and drama to come than we see in this initial volume. I'd say it's promising enough to keep reading, but not an instant favourite.

(By publisher request, review held back until the week of publication.)

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