I may not be a card shark, but Cullen Bunn and A.C. Zamudio are clearly pros.
Across the first two issues of Arcana Royale, the pair have gambled on a rather strategic approach to this supernatural poker tournament. As much as we’ve gotten a rich, robust world full of haunted divers, giant sock monkeys, and what’s basically biblically accurate angels, it’s all been about Hudson and her immersion in this strange world and her personal and familial struggles. With skill and grace, the bizarre and horrific was always balanced with a larger story about rewriting your own fate and changing your personal luck.
Now, as the penultimate third issue ups the weirdness factor (and the horror vibes), Arcana Royale remains as potent and human as ever.
Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics.
Last time around, Hudson was left reeling after a big reveal: The Arcanos Mysterinos is basically played with human lives, and every flip of the cards causes untold death and disasters. When faced with the fallout of that reveal in this issue, Hudson reacts as you’d expect before ultimately deciding to keep on playing. And, to be fair, it’s a really solid editorial choice — it reflects the way we process our own experiences in the world. There’s not much you can do about the big picture, and instead we often choose to control the chaos right at our front door. It’s something that keeps the focus on Hudson, and how she grapples with this thing far bigger than herself in order to perhaps right the wrongs of her own life.
And speaking of those wrongs, her relationship with her mother grew both more clear and more unsettling in several key ways. That dynamic and how it both empowers and controls Hudson is at the very core as to why this book has already excelled, and it makes sense she’d react how she does to this madness as she’s clearly working through issues that color her very essence. Hudson has always battled monsters/demons, and she’s willing to risk it all to win some kind of peace and/or new lease on life.
Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics.
And as Hudson doubles down on the game, that inevitably means she won’t be playing in spooky aquariums anymore. No, issue #3 of Arcana Royale saw the proceedings move to this strange hub-world between dimensions. That’s where the art (with Zamudio joined by colorist Bill Crabtree and letterer Josh Reed) got even more chances to show off. We get plenty of weirdness and dark magic in issue #3, and the whole thing is basically American Gods if it were somehow combined with Casino Royale.
Yet amid the spooky masked patrons and reality-defying physics, there’s still something familiar and approachable about this place. It’s a twisted fun house mirror of a Las Vegas casino, and that connects further with this book’s mantra of playing with our expectations and still keeping it “normal” enough to remind us of what’s the actual story here. And that’s not just a deeply human tale, but one that reminds us that as crazy as the universe may seem, the true chaos and darkness is often our very own decisions and whims.
Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics.
If anything, the moments I most liked visually had less to do with the spooky vibes and more so with what this place affords. For instance, there was a great section that basically used the game itself and its mechanics (like poker chips moving/flipping) as a montage to get us through the game. That not only saved time — and made us focus less on the game and more so the juicy moments before and after — but it felt like weirdness and magic in service of character work and world-building.
Some stories might’ve chosen to use the actual game to tell the story, but in Arcana Royale, there can be just as much bluffing and emotional intensity outside the game, and I appreciate that for respecting the poker gimmick and giving us more story meat in which to sink our teeth. Because the game is just a framework or device, and the real play is actually how people react between/after hands.
Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics.
So much so, in fact, that we got some of this issue’s more effective moments outside the game. There’s a neat little twist after the first “round,” and while I can’t spoil it, it does fit nicely with the emotional tone of this book and its focus on providing real, bloody odds for its many players. It also gives Hudson time to have two big interactions. One is with another character who, sort of like with the nasty Corvin from issue #1, reminds Hudson that she may still have lots to learn. The other is with that dreamy Reese, who once more helps Hudson maneuver this game. Or does he?! Cause, maybe as you’d expect, this is the issue where you might start to wonder about lover boy’s true intentions, and just why he’s being so darn helpful.
It’s not super overt, which I like, but it does mirror your average poker game and continue to test Hudson and her ability to reach the heights/depths she needs to win this game. That, and it makes Reese someone with real texture and nuance, and as much as he may be a hero, he could also be a proper, semi-necessary bad guy. Not knowing, it seems, is tremendous, and just another way Arcana Royale tries to delve into the magic of human relationships amid all this flash and horror.
Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics.
The issue ends with something of a cliffhanger that’s quite simple but also quite emotionally resonant/taxing. I assume it’s not what we think it is, but I wouldn’t put it pass Arcana Royale to throw a last-minute joker into our hands. Because monsters and gimmicks and premise all aside, Arcana Royale has bet that we all want a story about what we’d do to turn back time with a loved one. Or, how life is a game, and it’s what you do to others that predicts the winners and losers.
Either way, it’s a wager that’s paid off so far, and the game’s still not over.
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