Woman To Werewolf To Warrior (Part 2): Snow Paw #2

Hello, my friends.  The world can be haunting in various ways, which can especially feel overwhelming when it’s suddenly cast upon us without warning.  As we look to face this grave terror through the comfort and support of others, our featured heroine will begin to lean towards just that.  As such, I welcome you back to my mini-review series called…

Last time, we were introduced to Cirillia “Cirray” MacKinlay who’s a free-spirited young lady with a knack for hunting and a desire to escape her constricting farm life in order to see the world.  However, her father has decided to set her up with an arranged marriage in order for their blessed unionship to provide some financial stability to the farm.  Though she’s initially against this, she begins to change her mind when she meets James Chisholm and falls in love for him.  After spending several days at his humble abode known as Erchless Castle where there was even an engagement party that saw several high society figures from Britain invited to it, Cirilla and her father returned to their home before he gets attacked by an armored werewolf.  From there, the rest of the family gets surrounded while the main fiend named Grim Fang mentions how he’s taken a particular interest in her before ordering his Lycan minions to slaughter her family.  This intense moment would trigger her own transformation into a white-haired werewolf where she would slay the opposing creatures with her father’s hunting knife, yet Grim Fang would subdue her by grabbing her throat as he intends to greatly harm her.  With that recap out of the way, let’s get to our featured issue.

This sophomore chapter would get published in October 2022 (which was seven months after Night Wolf #6 came out), this entry once again has Robert A. Multari writing the story & script while also helming the art direction.  Mog Park would continue to handle the line art while Bruna Costa is still on coloring duties.  So what will await our main heroine now that she’s embracing her werewolf destiny?  Let us rejoin the pack, resume the hunt and find out.

Issue 2 begins in Brazil, specifically in 1859 within the Amazon Rainforest where the head of an expedition named Sir Alfred Wallace is fascinated by the massive amount of “fungal infused ants” that he’s constantly coming across.  While he does that, one of his teammates named Jameson has drunkenly wandered off into the massive foliage all while some ominous being notices him approaching his area.  It then hopes to be freed from its imprisonment pending on the inebriated guy desecrating the barrier that was put in place by “mother’s nature-loving acolytes”.  Sure enough, Jameson drops his whiskey bottle which smashes on the ground before he then begins to relieve himself.  This ends up freeing the fiend as it then repays the favor by unleashing its own poison upon the unfortunate man.

We then shift ahead by a few months over at the MacKinlay Farm where the villainous Grim Fang is holding the fully-transformed Cirray up by her throat and is about to snap her neck.  Just then, another heroic white-haired werewolf named Silver Mane who chastises his Lycan foe for going after “an inexperienced pup” comes in.  With his humanoid lion partner by his side, Silver Mane then orders the perp to let the young lady go in order for them to properly face each other.  Grim Fang refuses to do so, yet Cirilla manages to scratch his face and frees herself in the process.  From there, Silver Mane prepares to finally engage the fiend.  However, Grim Fang says that he has no intention of going up against him since he can just rely on his “army of vile creatures”.  As such, the ground begins to shake before a massive muscle-covered beast emerges and attempts to crush Cirilla.  Fortunately, Silver Mane dives in and saves her before Grim Fang tells his monster to smite his foes since he’s going to be sailing back to London.  Cirray then tells her newfound allies that they’re facing a Nuckelavee which is a sea demon that haunts the “Northern Isles” (specifically, Orkney).  Silver Mane then tells the humanoid lion named Akileo to escort her to safety while he deals with this foul creature.  As he proceeds to engage the Nuckelavee, Cirilla then warns him about its deadly vapor and to not breathe it in.  After battling the beast for a while, Silver Mane then asks her how she knows about it.  She explains that her grandmother would tell her and her siblings some ghost stories during Samhain before she’s then asked if she remembers the demon’s weakness, to which she recalls how it hates fresh water.  Fortunately for them, she mentions how there’s a nearby watermill located on the farm’s west side since it’s powered by a river as she then offers to lure the Nuckelavee to it while they come up from behind in order to force it in.

She then sets the plan in motion by throwing a rock at the massive creature and gets its attention before luring it towards the nearby river.  After she dives into it, she then grabs onto the water wheel in order to reach the top of the water mill.  From there, Silver Mane and Akileo take advantage of this newfound distraction as they manage to subdue the Nuckelavee within some ropes before holding it back with their own strength.  After a while, they let go in order for Cirray to deliver the final strike which causes the giant beast to fall into the river and get destroyed.  Although Cirilla is mainly alright, she starts feeling woozy before passing out as Silver Mane realizes that she’s breathed in some of the Nuckelavee’s demonic fumes.  From there, he carries the unconscious she-wolf in order for him and his comrade to get her some medical attention.  We then shift to a few days later where Cirray wakes up within her bed and is back in her human form.  She initially thinks that she’s had a nightmare, yet Silver Mane is standing in her presence as he tells her that it wasn’t a dream since she was poisoned by the Nuckelavee’s toxic vapor.  Thankfully, her Monoki blood was able to purge it from her body.  She then admits her confusion over it all before he shapeshifts into his human form and explains that she’s a Lycanthrope who’s been born into the Monoki Pureblood Pack just like him.  He even mentions that while the English refer to them as werewolves, the Scottish have their own term known as “Wulver”.  She then mentions that the “Wulvers of Shetland” was another tale told to her from her grandmother and that she never imagined that she would become one herself.  Just then, she becomes worried for her own family as he then grimly informs her that her kin didn’t survive where she then proceeds to tearfully mourn for them.

Over at the London-based Palace of Westminster, Parliament is in session as they focus their meeting on a pair of petitions that’re about the ownership of properties located at Old Pye Street, St. Anne’s Lane and Duck Lane a.k.a. Devil’s Acre Slums.  It turns out that the two opposing parties who’re each looking to stake their claim upon said properties are Alexander Skelton and the duo of Grayson Tyndall & an American financier/philanthropist named George Peabody.  Grayson then talks with his lawyer Lucas about how this current feud is preventing Alexander from being proper friends with Tyndall, to which Ferrera reminds him how angry Skelton got with taking praise away from him while being introduced to Lord Roderick Chisholm.  Grayson assures his lawyer that he was only trying to be polite, yet he believes that “the unexpected introduction” could’ve ruffled some feathers once Skelton was put on the spot.  Tyndall & Lucas then hope that Roderick and several other members of Parliament that they were able to parlay with will provide them with the necessary number of votes in order to help them acquire said properties, especially given George’s financial wealth backing them and that Alexander displayed such poor behavior during the recent engagement party.  Ferrera then asks him if his partnership with Peabody is coincidental, to which Grayson says that George was fortunate to join up with them since Parliament wouldn’t hand over any English property to an American despite its dilapidated status.  In fact, he even mentions that he didn’t have to do much convincing to get his newfound partnership.  We then shift to the next day at the MacKinlay Farm where Cirilla visits the burial site of her newly-deceased family members before using her late father’s hunting knife to carve their names onto their wooden crosses.  During all of this, she narrates about Silver Mane and Akileo saving her from the Nuckelavee before they took care of burying her murdered family while she recovered.  She even mentions that she’s learned about her newfound status as a Monoki Pureblood and that not only were her grandmother’s tales actually true, but that she’s also “one o’ them beasties”.  She then brings up how Silver Mane informed her about it running within her family’s bloodline, yet it only manifests within a few of them as she wonders why she was the only one to receive this.  While she still wishes that it was all a nightmare since she regrets worrying her folks while she was out-and-about for personal enjoyment, she then also shares her regret for not being “the perfect daughter” that her folks were hoping to raise.  She then mentions that she can’t stay on the farm by herself and that it also means that she’s breaking off her engagement to James, since she’s decided to go with Silver Mane and Akileo to London before she also brings up how she won’t stop until she hunts down Grim Fang.  From there, her two heroic figures approach her within their human forms before they all head out on their journey.

We then shift ahead by a few days as they sail into London upon their boat before they arrive at the port, to which she then wonders why no one is looking at their ship in a strange way.  Silver Mane says that he and his comrade have placed an “Elven Cloaking Spell” upon it several years ago which makes “humans and other hostiles” percieve it only as a regular vessel.  Cirray then notices several people looking at them, to which Silver Mane explains that the spell only works on their ship since they normally travel at night in order for them to evade “the glaring judgment of humans”.  Akileo even says that the English looks down on them and simple-mindedly believes that they’re savages, to which Cirilla wonders why they don’t just disguise themselves in order for them to fit better into British society.  Silver Mane explains that there isn’t a well-tailored suit that could hide their weapons, hold up during a battle or even stay together during their transformations before he then mentions that he and his comrade are simply proud of their respective heritages.  Cirray then mentions how her fellow Scottish are both “proud” and “stubborn”, to which Akileo says that she’ll fit alongside their fellow Viking Lycan as Silver Mane then mentions that his African friend had left his country in order to join him out of “an odd sense of obligation”.  They then make their way into a certain slum known as Devil’s Acre before they pass through an illusionary doorway as they arrive within the lone remaining safe haven district called Avaloch, to which Silver Mane mentions that it’s well-hidden from the human race.  Cirilla gets stunned by the various creatures that’re present within one area before she then asks where they’re heading towards as Silver Mane says that they’ll be meeting up with some friends of his over at the Dragon’s Tooth Tavern.

They ultimately arrive at the pub which is filled with various beings as a minotaur rudely demands for another round of drinks for himself and his mates, to which the elven bartender tells him to not call her a certain W-word or else she’ll expel them from the building.  The minotaur then demands to know who’s going to make him, to which he then gets smacked and knocked out by a female dwarf.  Just as another minotaur tries to attack her, Silver Mane stops him before another minotaur decides that they’ve all had too much ale.  One of them then apologizes to the bartender for the ruckus before they all take their leave, to which Silver Mane and his group then reunites with both ladies.  The dwarf’s pet creature then pops up before he then introduces Cirray to both ladies as she learns that the dwarf is named Turrorlig “Turri” Crimsonmace who serves as their forge master, while the dark elf is named Elenalue Elwenys and that she owns the establishment.  As for Turrorlig’s pet creature, it’s a Charginite named Gorge before Turri mentions that dwarves share a unique bond with them.  Silver Mane then mentions that Cirilla is a Monoki Pureblood before bringing up that Grim Fang murdered her family which triggered her initial transformation.  Although Elenalue admires how well she’s been handling this traumatic moment, Silver Mane says that their newest ally is burying her pain and that it’s a curse for their group to bear.  While he does admire Cirray’s burgeoning power, strong instincts and her quick decision to leap into action which did help them defeat a demon, it also nearly got her killed.  As such, Elenalue agrees to help him temper their friend’s instincts while sharpening her strengths.  From there, Issue 2 ends at the London-based docks as Sir Alfred Wallace and his group have returned from their Amazon-based venture.  Alfred mentions that he’s made some wondrous discoveries, yet the return trip was horrid due to several members of his crew getting sick and perishing as a result.  In addition, his cabin somehow caught fire which also consumed some of his journals and specimens.  Fortunately for him, the blaze was able to get put out before all of his findings were also wiped out.  During his discussions, a man wearing a trench coat and hat had gotten off the boat while a familiar ominous being mentions how the city has plenty of decay in order for him to grow his own legion without any notice.  As it then mentions someone named “Essentia”, the trench coat-wearing figure turns out to be a possessed Jameson who reaches the top of a building.  The mysterious being then says that the humans have contaminated nature and are continuing to spread this level of self-destruction, to which he then tells his “mother” Essentia that those same mortals will be her downfall as the infected Jameson begins to spread his own viral terror.

Overall, this is a chapter that starts off energetic before becoming understandably subdued by the end while making some good narrative progress.  In terms of our main heroine, she does continue to show some potential within her newfound supernatural role.  Although she doesn’t get much of a chance to display her skills aside from how she helped defeat a gigantic being of Scottish legend, Cirilla is still set up to receive the proper tutoring and training that she’ll need in order to be prepared for her own climactic clash against Grim Fang while we potentially learn how he’ll ultimately factor into the major narrative given what else is happening.  Also, it does address something that I had with the last issue concerning her fiancée.  It turns out that he’s not going to be important since she’ll be busy dealing with her Lycan status, her development into the werewolf warrior that she’ll need to become and her need to make Grim Fang pay for his murderous ways.  As for Silver Mane and Akileo, we do get a hint into their backgrounds as the former is a Viking (whether from Norway, Sweden or Denmark) while the latter is from Africa.  It’s possible that the next issue will further delve into their backgrounds as well as how they came across other, how they discovered their ability to transform into humanoid animals and what inspired them to team up in order to fight the kinds of evil that they’re facing.  If that’s ultimately the case, then the little information that we get about them is suitable towards the audience at this moment.  Also, it feels like Turrorlig, her pet Gorg and Elenalue will get fleshed out in the next chapter given how they’re going to become vital members to the team while helping Cirray receive the proper training & temperament.  As for the existential elements that still await our main group, Grim Fang is actually one of three looming pieces since he either operates within his own devious space or he’s a strong lieutenant who’s leading his own Lycan group for someone positionally above him in order for them to achieve some devious goal.  The second major element concerns the few properties that Grayson and Alexander are each looking to acquire for whatever means they each wish to use them for.  Although both men have shown up with these two issues, it’s not yet known what their true intentions are along with how getting the aforementioned properties will help them accomplish it.  Tyndall does hint at some slight deviousness towards the end of his Parliament-based explanation, but it’s still unclear if it’s meant to throw us off the trail or if he truly does have something potentially horrid up his sleeves.  As for the third element, it’s the Amazonian threat that’s possessing Jameson and is now using him to unleash their own eco-terrorist wrath upon humanity for some yet unknown reason aside from getting back at “Essentia” for his initial imprisonment.  Those three elements do seem to be unrelated on the one hand, though there is a possibility that they’ll come together in a way that only Multari himself was able to realize.  Either way, the story on the whole is able to remain engaging throughout thanks to its solid main character, likable supporting players and various figures that range from somewhat unknown to looming threats which helps sustain the right level of audience eagerness in order to keep them engaged in order to read on and discover how this will all unfold.  Helping all of that out is the pacing as the main thread progresses at a steady clip in order for Cirilla’s character development to advance within a steady flow.  Meanwhile, the slow burn approach helps the looming figures remain vague enough in order to keep the readers’ interest towards discovering how they’ll ultimately get connected within the story.  Tying all of this together is Mog Park’s artwork since every single being, place and confrontation continues to never look out of place.  As for the action, it’s primarily limited to the encounter with the Nuckelavee within the first half and only last for as long as it does.  Even still, there was still enough of a struggle for our main heroine and her newfound mentors to overcome while also providing enough of a thrill in the process.  All-in-all, this primarily works on the strength of its narrative progression.  With enough known elements getting furthered with their progression while some other elements looming within the shadows and are biding their time while they’re in their own advancement, it all makes for a good read thanks to it being bolstered by nice pacing and good artwork.  As such, give this a read if you’ve already checked out the initial chapter and let your supernatural soul flow throughout this experience.  In terms of our primary werewolf, how will her newfound allies be able to guide her towards a certain supernatural war that looms over them?  What kind of revenge scheme awaits the human race now that some unknown being is once again free?  What’s so important about some London-based houses and the two sides that’re interested in them?  Not to mention, how is Grim Fang connected to any or all of those things?  Come back next time as we sharpen our skills, do some proper training and await the massive hunt that approaches us.  Until then, may you all howl with delight!

Snow Paw (created by Robert A. Multari) is owned by Lone Wolf Media Entertainment, Inc.