How do you survive in a world that has completely fallen apart? Most of Colleen Cavanaugh’s family died when aliens took over her home planet, but she’s about to find an escape from her life of servitude in the new First Second graphic novel Shattered Warrior by writer Sharon Shinn and artist Molly Knox Ostertag. Shattered Warrior is the first graphic novel by Shinn, who has been writing fantasy, science fiction, and romance novels for over 20 years, and she has a talent for building new worlds and mythologies while keeping the action driven by character relationships. This skill is on display in her newest work, which takes readers to a location steeped in sci-fi intrigue for a story about one woman’s mission to rescue her niece and restore her family unit.
As the artist of the ongoing webcomic Strong Female Protagonist, Ostertag has a lot of experience drawing female characters that kick ass while also having a complex inner life, and this exclusive preview of Shattered Warrior spotlights the vulnerability she brings to the main character. Shinn makes a wise decision in letting Ostertag carry the storytelling in these first pages, and the art smoothly draws the reader into this new environment while showing Colleen’s fear and anxiety. Ostertag’s linework is clean and detailed, and she does especially strong work with establishing shots of different locations, giving each a distinct design and atmosphere. Shattered Warrior goes on sale today, so if readers like what they see in this excerpt, they can continue to explore this world by checking out the full graphic novel.