“Sea of Thieves” is a treasure for the hunt

This graphic novel, Sea of Thieves, is based on a Microsoft video game and was published by Titan Comics, in September 2018. Jeremy Whitley is the writer, Rhoald Marcellus the illustrator & Sakti Yuwono the colorist. Editorial credits go to Tom Williams and Donna Askem (Designer), the Art Director was Oz Browne. The artwork is impressive and enjoyable right at first glance, the credits for the book are set up in a movie screen format with many people & titles listed. I mention the artists in particular since it’s a graphic novel and I was impressed that if they had multiple artists on the book I couldn’t tell since the style was the same throughout the book. That’s a hard task to achieve. Quite often in comics there isn’t a consistent look within a book over time (especially if the artist is changed on the book), such as X-Men for example. Depending on the artist, Beast and Wolverine look very different and I’m left wondering if I’ve missed an issue and something must have happened to them since the contrast to the previous issue is quite jarring and the characters look vastly different (Wolvie looks more animal like and hunched over or the drawings are more sketch like and not as detailed as previously seen).

The tone in Sea of Thieves was consistent in the story and the characters rang true through-out the book. I enjoyed the humor and surprises in the story; it kept me interested and wanting to know more about the characters and what happened next. Having both women and men as captains was also impressive; that isn’t something that I see a lot of (although more now than in the past- I loved Mass Effect for that and many other reasons) so I appreciate the equal representation. Both captains were on the hunt for their father’s pirate booty (Arrrg) which thankfully was his ill-gotten gains on his last pirate venture. He had gone out for one last score before settling down and didn’t return. He did have a map for both of them if they could prove who they were (pirates aren’t known for being honest after all). Both are snarky, hard ass pirates who had a mission to achieve (map = treasure–they hoped) and people or obstacles (pick pockets, cannons, not being able to fly which affects your landing I noticed or lack of a boat) wouldn’t get in their way. There was the right amount of conflict and treachery, loss, angst, and betrayal but it all worked out in the end. I also liked the dash of romance and unusual medical knowledge/skills thrown in (who knew bananas were so useful).

I confess, I was not aware of the characters previously and didn’t play the game (by Microsoft) but will now keep an eye out for a copy. Even though I had no backstory from game play, I didn’t feel at a loss since the introductions were quick and you got a feel of the characters based off their actions rather than lengthy expositions. Pirates are always a fun genre in whatever medium used. Many people played pirates as kids and some still play them as adults at parties, Ren Faires across the country, Dungeons and Dragons, and others in video games. The essence of being a pirate was captured well, as I’m sure it is in the game, and the reader feels like a part of the crew who is along for the ride to search for treasure and hopefully not die in the process.

My only issue is that the digital copy, though gorgeous in color and detail and captured the action scenes well in the panels, was hard to read. Some areas I blew up to see better and when scrolling down, it would send me back up to the beginning or up 4 pages. I then had to scroll down to where I thought I was in the book to continue. I’ve read digital books before so this was a new issue for me and happened whether I zoomed in or not. I’ll stick to paperback and floppies for my main reading (my library is diverse and large but I don’t have issues scrolling in print). Aside from that I give it 4 stars out of 5.

Sea of Thieves Collection by Jeremy Whitley (Author), Rhoald Marcellius (Illustrator)
Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: Titan Comics (September 18, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1785864629
ISBN-13: 978-1785864629

Follow a crew of adventuring pirates as they sail the Sea of Thieves! Voyaging to far islands in search of legendary buried treasure, our heroes (or villains, depending on how you look at things) will face rival thieves, the wrath of undead hordes guarding their riches, and the worst that the vast sea has to offer! Can they work together to survive long enough to cash in their reward? Or will they end up as ghosts on the Ferry of the Damned…?