Twilight Star Studios is an independent publisher in the Springfield, Ohio area that has been creating independent comics since being started in 2009. Currently they have a library of over 30 comics that are available to the public; if you are interested in learning more about their publication you can head over to
TwilightStarStudios.com for more information. I first heard of
Twilight Star Studios a little over a year ago while attending one of their panels at the Gem City Comic Con 2012; and I can attest that these guys know their stuff; and It wasn't until that panel that I decided that it was even possible to create comics on a smaller scale. What started out for them as a hobby has grown into a profitable business and has garnered them respect amongst the comic book community.
I was privileged to speak with one of the owner's, Bill Gladman, and his daughter, Raichal Gladman (authors of "Ray-Chal' Princess of the Sands"), at this years GCCC; and was able to express my gratitude for the encouragement they allotted me the previous year. At this years convention I made it my business to reach out to the local community of creators in hopes of becoming more grounded in my understanding of how to promote my own book "Requiem". After only two years of attending conventions, especially on a smaller scale such as GCCC, it's not too far fetched to consider everyone family; we share our faults, our successes, and even feedback with one another in hopes that through experience and encouragement we can make a better book. What better way to encourage one another than by taking that leap of faith and buying a comic from one of these local vendors and reviewing it; and that is why you are reading this now.
Disclaimer: As always I read comics in the way that I understand
them, that being said, what I see may or may not be exactly what the
creators intended. With criticism brings reflection.
I had never read one of Twilight Star Studio's comics before, so although this review is how I read "Ray-Chal' Princess of the Sands," it does not mean that my interpretation is entirely accurate. There is a lot of back story to many of these books, and a common theme with small publishers is that they want to tell a story; and without knowing if there will be a sequel, sometimes we push as much of that story into one book. A good book of any kind will succeed in telling a beginning a middle and an end, if you do not accomplish those things, then the reader is felt like they were cheated of the story; and at a cost of five dollars a book, taking that risk with a publisher may be the last. Luckily "Ray-Chal' Princess of the Sands" does have a full story. I did read through the book twice because there were a few terms that I didn't understand; I contribute this to not reading the "Prodigy" comic, (also produced by Twilight Star) before reading this title. However Ray-Chal' Princess of the Sands" is considered to be a one shot and does a wonderful job at setting us up for the story with a recap of the world on the inside cover. The story surrounds a beautiful, young woman named Ray-Chal', who has the ability to walk along the time stream; similar to astral projection. We do discover that Ray-Chal' is related to Noheim, a prophet who traversed the universe, also known as the Territories. During Noheim's journey's she kept a journal which later became known as the book of Noheim, a text of 12 books that were found to be controversial among the people; regarding them as religious artifacts and delusional works of madness to others. The story has a hard time explaining why things are the way they are in the physical world. Besides the palace in which Ray-Chal lives and the ruins of the village Drerry, we never learn of how important the books of Noheim really are. Most of the story is set in the Timestream which is beautifully created, similarly to the world of Neil Gaiman's "Sandman." The Timestream is depicted as a flowing river of tall grass that flowed amongst a multitude of galaxies, a unique twist which I found enjoyable and refreshing. In regards to the writing, I found the story very original, never once did I think I knew what was going to happen next. However, I did find some of the script to be unnecessary; at times the characters would say exactly what they were doing, when the art was doing it for me. I do think that it is necessary to explain what is going on, especially to someone who knows nothing about the world that has been created, but this is where you show the reader instead of telling them. I did find it interesting that Ray-Chal' was the princess of the sands, and likewise her friend Cherise, the witch of the winds; even the dead had a wind, if there were a few more it would be like the Wizard of Oz. I would have guessed that Ray-Chal' would have been called the princess of the sands because of the idea that time runs like sands through an hourglass, but since the Timestream in which she walks is more of a tall grass, it leaves me to wonder what sands she is princess of.
The art done on "Ray-Chal' Princess of the Sands" was wonderfully done; it truly looks like a unique universe that would take more than one lifetime to explore; so it is completely believable that Noheim's journey would have been one that meant something to the characters. There were a few exceptions where the art looked distorted, usually it was different poses that were just not physically capable of the human form. These were few and far between and did not interrupt the flow of the story. I did notice one or two spelling errors, but unless your a stickler for that sort of thing you will still find the story entertaining. Overall I would give "Ray-Chal' Princess of the Sands" a positive review for its unique style, both art and story. I would like to see more of a back-story to the characters before they are launched into the fray of battle, but this could easily be done with a sequel; most good super-heroes do not have their history revealed until their second appearance anyway. I am sure we have not seen the last of Ray-Chal; the Twilight Star Studio has a long list of characters which can make a crossover into the others universe. With that being said, I would recommend this book to those who enjoy mystical stories similar to Dr. Strange or Sandman. For more information about publications of Twilight Star Studios, visit them at
(Pictured Left: Bill Gladman, Raichal Gladman)
Good readd
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