Review of The Promised Land Graphic Novel
Have you ever watched someone smart and capable get stuck, and not be able to help get them to where they need to go?
The Promised Land is a graphic novel for fans of adventure, magic, zombies, video games, beauty, dragons, and people getting to where they need to be. Like a buddy comedy, only with awesome dragon-wielding ladies and a pink bubble-thing.
The brand new novel from author Loretta Sherbert has been widely anticipated for 26 years. Sherbert is the best-selling author of such classics as This Might be Made Up and its sequel Seriously, This is All in My Head. Her work has been widely praised for its use of salamanders and UFC fighters. Her most famous creation, The Mighty Herd Sire, has spun off 3 tv shows and a straight-to-lazer-disc film.
But enough about the author, let’s get to the fancy plot!
Daenerys Targaryen is in a pickle – she’s the Mother of Dragons and ruler of the city of Meereen, but longs for Westeros, the country she was born to rule.
Michonne is a katana-bearing, zombie massacring badass from Georgia who just wants some peace and quiet.
Kirby is a puffy little pink thing with the lungs and appetite of a champion who is taking some me-time away from his home in Dreamland.
Michonne and Kirby meet when he eats a zombie for her. He does a full-body swallow, ending the zombie’s existence, and inhales Michonne in as well. He then carries his captive to Meereen, where Barristan Selmy, Daenerys Targaryen’s most trusted advisor, is waiting for him. Kirby is a Faceless Man, come to aid in the effort to help Daenerys in her travels to the iron throne in King’s Landing.
Barristan tells the travelers (after Kirby spits Michonne out and she cleans herself off and scopes the place for zombies and eats a little something) that the Queen has disappeared, possibly in the Red Waste or Dothraki Sea, and will need a whole heap of help.
They start on a quest to find her, and Michonne finds that sometimes a pink bubble can be a trustworthy companion. The years of psychological turmoil – losing her job as a lawyer, her husband and children, and fighting to stay alive each day – start to slough off, and she begins to forge a trust with always-hungry Kirby.
After hunting for a month, Kirby and Michonne are able to track a massive winged beast, which they deduce is Drogon, Dany’s largest and fiercest dragon. Following his movements, the duo discover his lair, and find the Queen in rough shape.
Drogon attacks the intruders, but Kirby eats the dragon’s flame, full-body swallows it, and masters the power of fire.
He also bops a thoroughly confused and frustrated Drogon on the head with an umbrella for good measure.
Michonne’s apocalyptic medical skills come in handy, helping patch the last Targaryen up with few resources, and Kirby helps tame Drogon by inhaling him to show him who’s boss, and then spitting him out and riding him. They fly together while Dany heals, and any time Drogon tries to light people on fire, Kirby eats the flames to make sure no one is hurt.
Once the Queen is restored, the team flies to Westeros. I don’t want to give away any more epic details, but any fan of the Mother of Dragons will be overjoyed that she at least sets foot Westeros soil. And when Michonne meets a Wight following her epic fight at King’s Landing, she shows them the meaning of fear. And when you find out that Bran Stark warged into Kirby (who was really a Merling)? That’s a great twist.
The Promised Land graphic novel is just getting heated up. There are vicious battles, soaring dragons, hope and fire, and people getting to Westeros. And really, isn’t that all people want?