Lupina Book Two: Wane

by James Wright, Li Buszka (Illustrator), Bex Glending (Colorist), Frank Cvetkovic (Letterer), Martin Clinch (Inked or Colored by)

Overview

The lone wolf finally finds her pack!

After years of growing up in the wild, Lupa finally encounters her destiny and finds her tribe. Far in the mountains, the monks at the mysterious monastery welcome Lupa into a world she never expected and introduce her to her true sisters. Each of the young women represents a different aspect of the same goddess, and each of them will have to learn to work together in order to save their world!

As Lupa uncovers the secrets of her past, where she comes from and who she really is, she finds herself enmeshed in a story bigger than she could imagine. From the evil empress Salkis to the imprisoned goddess Corasina – the fullness of Lupa’s destiny becomes clear!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681160993
Publisher:	Legendary Comics
Publication date:	03/14/2023
Series:	Lupina
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

James F. Wright is a Los Angeles-based writer, reader, and ramen eater. He's been writing comics for a while now, and been reading them for as long as he can remember. James is the co-creator, with Li Buszka, of Legendary Comics' girl-raised-by-a-wolf fable, Lupina. In 2018 he and artist Josh Eckert were nominated for an Eisner and PRISM Award for their self-published one-shot queer, sci-fi romance short, Contact High. That same year, he and artist Rashad Doucet contributed the sci-fi short, "Thrustfall," to Ascend Press's Eisner and Ignatz Award-winning anthology, Elements: Fire, edited by Taneka Stotts and Shing-Yin Khor. In 2020, James and Jackie Crofts completed their five-volume culinary coming-of-age crime saga, Nutmeg. His work has also appeared in the Iron Circus Comix anthologies FTL, Y'all (with Teo DuVall), and You Died (with Jackie Crofts). When he's not writing comics, he enjoys cooking, baking, and going to the movies (when it's safe to do so)

Li Buszka (they/them) is a queer illustrator, comic artist, and courtroom sketch artist based in Indianapolis. Li has contributed art to anthologies Comic Book Slumber Party: Escape From Bitch Mountain and Mine!: a Comics Collaboration to Benefit Planned Parenthood.

Bex Glendining (she/they) is a biracial queer, UK based illustrator, comic artist and colorist. Bex has worked as a cover artist, colorist and interior artist on projects such as Seen: Edmonia Lewis, Penultimate Quest, Rolled & Told, DC Nubia, and multiple covers for Penguin Random House.

Editorial Reviews

"With Lupina, Wright and Buszka have created something both accessible and absolutely unique. An immersive folkloric fable that pushes the boundaries of what sequential storytelling can be, while telling a truly human story."

Rosie Knight

2023-04-13
Lupa seeks revenge for the destruction of her village.

Lupa has arrived at the Inner Light monastery with her wolf companion, Coras. Convinced the monks there are the ones who killed her family, Lupa attacks, but she is disarmed and faced with a devastating truth. The Empress Salkis, fearing a prophecy that eight children would dethrone her, sought to kill them and disguised her assassins as monks so as to erode the girls’ trust in the very people who were destined to train them to fight against her. With her sister Kita dead, Lupa must take both her own place and Kita’s in this celestial sisterhood. The additional burden weighs heavily on her, and she has difficulty keeping her destructive tendencies in check. While fighting off an assassin, Lupa accidentally lights the monastery on fire, and after warning the others, she decides to leave on her own and go discover her true self. The story moves so quickly that there is little room for character development, making the narrative feel thin. This is not helped by multiple time skips jumping over years of character growth and resulting in a disjointed, breakneck pace that doesn’t give events room to breathe. The story opens with a brief recap of the first volume, making this entry accessible to new readers. The classic comic–style art is dynamic, highlighting a cast that is racially diverse.

A formulaic skeleton without any meat on its bones. (storyboards, character profiles) (Graphic fantasy. 12-14)

Kirkus Reviews