Geis: A Matter of Life and Death
Nobrow, 2016
Writer:Alexis Deacon
On the face of it, “Geis: A Matter of Life and Death” looks like a teenage fantasy comic, with its cover of a curious and very young blonde girl in blue sackcloth wielding an old fashioned lantern, prowling around a darkened library. Instead, “Geis” is a sinister horror story with curiously feminist undertones.
When Matarka, the leader of a city known only as the Capital, dies, her successor is to be chosen in accordance with her enchanted will. Many potential candidates are summoned into a hall where the dead chieftain’s body lies in state. Each of the forty or so assembled people, ranging from the leader of the army to apparently ordinary and normal citizens, sign a document whereby they each agree to abide by the outcome of the selection process.