Introduction

Amaranth is the dark tale of a young woman a student, who bares the same name as this story. She lives alone in a student flat and is paranoid about walking home in the dark. Amaranth is an unusual girl, named after a type of flower, she seems different somehow to other people, She definitely has a past, there could be more to her than meets they eye.

Amaranth bumps into a spiky haired young fellow called Chickory whilst out on a walk, he seems to stalk her, calling her "Lady Amaranth", and attempting to get her into a conversation about herself, blatant flattery and Barbie jokes ensue. One may think these were just cheesy chat up lines, but are likely links to her past.

The story on the whole is very well written and scripted and rather interesting. It's easy to follow and totally non confusing. I managed to read the whole five books through without having to look back. I'm am not usually interested in this kind of story, but this was good. There is definitely more to things than just the demonic; there is for example a hint romance and humour, there are also elements of a struggle of conflicting ideals.

If there was a definite moral to this story, then I would say it's about being who you are, and coming to terms with that and living with it.

Art & Design

This comic uses a highly stylised and original take on the manga look. You can definitely see the manga influence in there. It is a simple and unusual style. The characters themselves have an angular look with straight edges that come to a points on all limbs, and complex areas such as hands are generally simplified; the eyes large and dark; without pupils. Even so one can easily sense the emotions of the characters.

The backgrounds vary quite a bit, some being screen toned, others in what looks like coloured pencil, others use black ink. These backgrounds also vary in detail. Scene setting frames are usually the more complex whilst scenes with character dialogue are simplified. The overall look is very abstract, and fits in well with the subject matter. Even the dialogue font seems to match very well with the story.

The main artistic criticism I will level at the artist is for the backgrounds. Whilst I believe they are sufficient; I also believe that they would also benefit from some standardisation, meaning done in less mediums, perhaps with one only, I.E just pencil or just ink and tone?

That aside, all the storytelling aspects of the design are very good; with excellent pacing and a thoughtful layout. Storytelling is definitely Willies greatest talent.

Overall I rather liked Amaranth. The story was interesting and very well executed; I liked the abstract character design, even if I wasn't too keen on the background art in some cases.

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ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF WILLIE HEWES.

Review by Wayne Hallows