Ionheart by Lukas Kummer. Top Shelf, 2025. 9781603095587. 308pp. (Portions originally published in German, no translator listed.)
This book is a wonderful combination of science fiction and fantasy. The inside front flap references Blade Runner, Tin Tin, and The Dark Tower. The back cover says every page glows. All true.
It’s about a knight who has awakened after thirty years to find the land and its residents poisoned. And it’s his fault. Did he manage to save the princess? Why is the world full of modern technology that everyone views as magic? Who is hunting him across the wasteland, and why?
The answers are complicated. The adventure is dark, but Kummer’s illustrations make it feel a bit light. There’s nothing to keep this out of your YA section except the background details in a few panels in a brothel early in the book and, maybe, parts of the knight’s origin story. But buy it for your adult graphic novel section; it’s a great read.
