Aria (comics)

:"For the Japanese comic by Kozue Amano, see Aria (manga)."

"Aria" is a comic book published by Image Comics, written by Brian Holguin and drawn by Jay Anacleto. Its idea is the familiar 'mythic beings exist in modern world' idea, as seen in numerous other works of dark contemporary fantasy. There have been several "Aria" miniseries written over the course of 1999–2003, which have been collected in trade paperback.

Original miniseries (1999)

The story opens in a New York bookshop, specializing in the esoteric. The shopowner, a sardonic young woman named Kildare, over the course of a day deals with a woman who found a sword in her flat, two goths who want to drink absinthe, and a man looking for a bargain-basement love potion. After work, she goes back to her flat, where she is greeted by a talking mirror and a fishtank full of tiny merpeople...

She goes to a club which caters to an unusual clientele, where it becomes apparent that the woman is a Fae noble. She meets a man named Pug, later revealed to be a dwarf, and the bartender Dion, who is none other than the Greek god Dionysus. On the way home, she is attacked by a group of shadowy creatures.

Meanwhile, in an elven pub in Cottingly, a group of Fae are killed by further shadowy creatures.

In New York, Pug has rescued Kildare, and they are both looking for some answers. We are also introduced to Childe Roland, a half-elf street artist.

The death of the drinkers means that all of the Fae must return to their realm, temporarily for the funeral. We are introduced to 'Mad Ginny', the heroine's cousin, a touch insane, and the ultimate cause of the Cottingly Fairies fiasco. She, too, is being stalked by the shadowy creatures.

Eventually, the villain becomes apparent: a dark spiritual creature, who fought the Fae in ages past, and survived up to the present day as a shrub. After gathering strength for many years, his spirit is able to directly touch the physical world, and influence it, causing such disasters as the Great Fire of London in 1666. Finally he is able to take the shape of a human, he finds Mad Ginny, rapes her, and sires a son, through which he can act against the world at any time. The son is gathering the forces of the father.

In a final confrontation Kildare, Pug and a mortal wizard battle the son in a shadow realm. He is conducting a ceremony to transfer his soul to that of a human in our world which will allow him to act against mankind. The three defeat the son but not before he transfers his soul back to earth and the waiting recipient. Childe is waiting for him and quickly binds the man with magic.

On the final page we see that Ginny has moved to New York to live with Kildaire, the two of them work in Kildaire's antique and magic shop where the two of them watch over an urn that houses the soul of the dark one they trapped.

Aria/Angela (2000)

This miniseries is a two issue crossover where Kildare meets Angela, the angel who appeared in Spawn. In London at the end of the 19th century, Kildare encounters a freak show exhibiting Angela and must rescue her.

Aria: The Soul Market (2001)

In this six issue mini-series, Kildare battles Goodfellow, otherwise known as Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream, who is involved in an underground market where human souls are traded.

Aria: Summer's Spell (2002)

In this two issue mini-series, Kildare encounters a lost love, True Thomas, in 1960s London.

Aria: The Uses of Enchantment (2003)

In this four issue mini-series, Kildare investigates the Kingdom of Enchantment, an abandoned theme park from the 1950s, which contains a true hidden magical kingdom.

External links

* [http://www.weirdspace.dk/Avalon/AvalonComicsContinuity.htm Profiles of characters from Aria and other Avalon Studios titles]
* [http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=36&t=000961 Interview with writer Brian Holguin]