The Wedding Gift - An Illustrated Tale of Einarinn
After working for UK and international advertising companies, the comic book field beckoned James. Initially inking for Marvel UK, he moved to producing full art for DC with THE BIG BOOK OF URBAN LEGENDS and BLACK CANARY. As a finishing artist, he worked on DC's CATWOMAN, DETECTIVE COMICS and assorted BATMAN specials. His full art for DC includes a Man-Bat tale for THE GOTHAM CHRONICLES. More recently he has inked DAREDEVIL, SPIDER-MAN; TANGLED WEB, SUPERBOY and KRAVEN. He partnered Staz Johnson on the prestige series BATMAN Vs ALIENS II.
James came up with a couple of ideas for Ryshad . At first, on the left, Ryshad looked rather younger than he seems in the Tales. If you look closely, you'll also spot he is left handed here. On the right, you see James settling on this scene from the story.
Ryshad is first encountered as the mysterious yet friendly stranger in an inn, becoming the male voice of The Swordsman's Oath and The Warrior's Bond as he follows the same quest for ancient truths. He however is working on the orders of his master, the head of the Tormalin House of D'Olbriot. Where Livak is an outsider, by choice and inclination, Ryshad is a man with firm ties to family and well-trained loyalty to his prince. Those ties are tested and in some cases snapped as he comes to terms with to the new realities of the complex Tormalin political landscape, as the consequences of their initially successful quest to find the lost colonists of Kellarin unfold. On a personal level, he and Livak have to balance their mutual attraction against all the differences in temperament and outlook that divide them.