For a while now I’ve been following this up and coming comic/manga series called Black Sands: The Seven Kingdoms and after reading up on Issue #1 and #2, I can safely say that this one series worth checking out.
Black Sands follows the young prince Ausar on his path to become the next Pharaoh of Kemet when he and his kin are dragged into a war that threatens the realms of men. What Is UNIQUE about Black Sands compared to its competition is the extreme attention to detail in the narrative, political relationships, and mythological lore placed in the story. It is an epic story about a time period in history long forgotten.
The story in Black Sands is quite interesting. I’m really enjoying the concept of seeing Kemet and Kush, two ancient African civilization come to light in a format that I’m very fond of. One of the core focus of this comic is the diplomacy of these two kingdoms as both rulers of their respective kingdoms are brothers. On top of this, there’s two faction at war as well, “the Mortals” – godlike beings and “the Ancients” – immortals beings. There’s a lot to unpack here. I mentioned that Asuar is the main character, however he shares that spotlight with his other siblings, Nehbet, Auset & Seth.
The art-style for this comic is what I’m most impressed by when in comes to Black Sands. Everything is so well detailed and sharp and it’s easy enough to follow the panels and see what happening. You can tell that a lot of passion and hard work has gone into this comic.
Even though I’d classify this as a comic book, the stuff in this feels like anime/manga in my opinion. The fights in Black Sands go crazy and that’s just from the first few pages of the first issue when Ausar fought Bes. It got pretty brutal, which is a sign that there’s going to be some crazy ass fights in the near future.
Overall, I have to say I’m really impressed by the quality of this comic. If you’d like to read it, you can find them here on their Black Sands: The Seven Kingdoms Webtoons and you can support them on Patreon.