A Baron, loyal to King Henry II, is faced with an impossible choice in the midst of a conflict between the King and Richard the Lionheart. Though he wants to do the right thing, there may be little option but to engage in monstrous actions, in order to force the hand of the enemy.

Written by Bruno Catarino and illustrated by Jaka Prawira (with letters by Jaymes Reed), Family & Honour is an absolutely riveting, medieval drama.

The deliberately paced build up reveals the stakes at the heart of the story, before the second act becomes a gripping two hander, paving the way for a devastating climax.

It’s tightly scripted, with Catarino writing the one-shot comic with the feel of the political intrigue of fiction such as Game of Thrones, albeit without any of the fantastical elements.

Family & Honour is instead a very grounded and realistic drama, but fans of George RR Martin’s series, as well as readers attuned to less splashy, or action-oriented comics.

Illustrated with an eye on realism and an emphasis on the characters and their emotions, Jaka Prawira does an excellent job of bringing the intense drama and tragedy to the fore with the comic’s art. A standout sequence involves an entirely word-free set of panels, as characters contemplate their fate.

It’s very impressively handled, and shows just how much drama can be wrung from such a straightforward premise.

My only complaint is that this is a one-shot; I could easily spend a lot more time with these characters and their political situation than we’re given here.

However, this is of course a perfectly valid creative choice. You could say that my complaint here is really nitpicking for the sake of having any criticism at all for Family & Honour. Regardless, I was shocked and impressed by Family & Honour, which I can highly recommend.

As of the time of writing, Family & Honour is in the midst of its crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. You can pledge for your own copy of the comic here.

Many thanks to Bruno Catarino for providing me with a copy of Family & Honour for review purposes.

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