Wynd vol 3 by james tynion iv

Vol 3: The Throne in the Sky, illustrated by Michael Dialynas

Our heroic band of kids is on the run, including from Duke Yadriel, who was supposed to be their savior! So now, humans, faeries, and those pesky vampires are wanting to overtake the group for a variety of reasons. The most terrifying presently is General Eks, a ruthless faery who believes the children are responsible for the destruction of an entire city. A suggestion is thrown out that they take the mountain pass to avoid being tracked, but this terrifies Merien. Faeries aren't built to withstand such extreme temperatures, which might be good for evading Eks, but not for their friend. While refreshing themselves at a mountain hot springs, the kids are picked up by Strawberry, a seemingly-friendly giant, who takes them to the ruins of an ancient city. Merien and Wynd discuss using his likeness to the Winged Ones to win allies, but Wynd still rejects the notion that he's descended from the original creators of the world.

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This volume has some wonderful character development both with present dialogue and some meaningful flashbacks. We get an enlightening flashback of Oakley and Wynd as kids that also provides some background on one of the adults who is trying to come save the kids. There are several great conversations about weirdblood and acceptance of the unordinary, including a poignant one between Thorn and Yorik. We also get the faeries' side of the creation myth, which has some key differences from the human one we heard about in volume one. Hidden in this fantasy story are people grappling with some powerful human emotions - acceptance, love, courage, and justice, to name a few. I'm still very much enthralled by this world and its characters.

The art continues to be some of my favorite in all the comics I read. It's not overly detailed, so the appeal more so lies in the expressiveness and how much Dialynas makes the art work for the story Tynion is writing. This pairing is dynamic, and I hope we not only get many more issues of Wynd to come, but a continuation of their partnership for a long time.

Sara's Rating: 10/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1, vol 2

Publisher: BOOM! Box
Publication Date: August 15, 2023
ISBN: 9781684159154 (Paperback)

Tags: Rating: 10/10, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Comicbooks, Graphic Fiction, Fantasy, Magic, Family, Action Adventure, LGBTQ+, BOOM! Studios

Tag note: Wynd was originally published in single-issue format, so it is tagged as Comicbooks, but bound together, it looks and feels more like a graphic novel, so I have also tagged it Graphic Fiction (especially as a consideration for shelving purposes).