by Ed Fortune
Ben Aaronovich’s Rivers of London has slowly become a multimedia franchise. Though we still seem to be years away from a TV series, the comic-book spin-off series has been quietly racking up its own cult following. Deadly Ever After is the tenth graphic novel, though it’s very much a stand-alone story, as is written by Degrass: Next Class writer Celeste Bronfman.
Rivers of London is urban fantasy series set in a world very much like our own, except magic, is very real, very dangerous and mostly kept from public view. The majority of the stories deal with Metropolitan police Detective Sergent Peter Grant and his allies, but Deadly Ever After takes a slightly different track, concentrating on the misadventures of Olivia and Chelsea Brook. These twins are, in fact, river goddesses, relatively young ones who constantly get into trouble.
The story sees Chelsea and Olivia get caught up in fairy tale-themed magical shenanigans, and we get guest appearances from all of the main characters, including the secret agent foxes, who are a fan favourite. Bronfman has a good handle on what makes the Rivers of London series special, and there’s a reasonable amount of tension and mild peril to keep the book engaging throughout.
JM Beroy’s artwork is solid but nothing special. This isn’t a story that leans into the advantages of comic-book storytelling at all, so the art is nice but doesn’t have any chance to show off. The colouring and inking are fine, and that’s part of the problem here. This is a fun little comic book story, but the art, script etc all seem to be very simple and straightforward; everything plays it safe, and you get the feeling that nothing earth-shattering will ever happen to the franchise in these pages.
Deadly Ever After is fun, but it’s an appetiser while we all wait for the next Ben Aaronovich novel.
