If I were to describe this series to you in three words it would be animals, barbarians, and wizards. The Autumnlands: Tooth and Claw will make you wonder why a story like this hasn’t been done before.

Written by Kurt Busier and art done by Ben Dewey, The Autumnlands comic book series immediately immerses you into a fantasy painted world filled with magic and splendor.

From the first issue, you can clearly see how much time and effort Busier and Dewey put into creating the world of The Autumnlands. The spectacular artwork does justice to its medieval fantasy setting, and apart from that the rest of the Autumnlands, is very intriguing.

We begin in the Seventeenth city, a floating island used as a trading post, maneuvered around by levitation spells. On this island, the people’s decisions are based heavily on rules and religion. They rely on their gods and magic to get through everyday troubles. The characters are complex and memorable as well.

Did I forget to tell you that the characters are bipedal, human-like animals? They talk, walk, and dress like us. Busier and Dewey do an amazing job of bringing these characters to life, from their facial expressions to their human-like personality. The first character we come across is Dunstan. Dustan is a young, dog-like creature who is on a trade mission with his father. From the get-go, you can tell that his father can be an intimidating and unforgiving person, unlike Dustan who is meek and merry.

Meanwhile, there’s Gharta, a female warthog wizard who requests the people of the city to do a ritual to summon “The Great Champion of Legend” in order to restore the power of magic. But something goes terribly wrong with the ritual in the first issue, causing the rest of the events in the story to happen.

Both the art and story do a lot to make The Autumnlands feel realistic and interesting. Although things like magic and talking animals aren’t real, the conflicts and issues of the story make it seem as if it were real. If you want to lose track of time and get lost in a new world, I would highly recommend this.