The Sun is falling down. OH NO.

Ok, the Sun is falling down, very slowly. But still, enough to induce a lot of changes in the world, a lot of things are desert now, and there is Sand. So much Sand. One could even say it is… Rising?

Rising Sand is a comic about family. And religion. And surviving. And a lot of other things, beautifully blended together with gorgeous art and solid storytelling.

Dal is a young sylph who ran away from home due to a mix of family tension, zealot religious upbringing and trauma. She’s been making a living as a thief and her quick wits and sassy personality make a great contrast with her companion Qebrus, who is not very keen on words. For religious reasons, Qebrus needs to collect a lot of, uh, bounty, so the two keep quite the symbiotic relationship. They leave as peacefully as one can while trying to survive in a decaying world, until Dal’s sister – who up to this point believed Dal to be extremely dead – finds them and decides unilaterally that it’s time for Dal to come home.
In the midst of that mess and with a small ragtag group forming, the gang finds out the sun is falling down, and maybe they should try to stop the end of the world. I mean, the sun falling down’s gotta have that effect on the world, right?

Religion plays a very important role in the characters’ lives, clearly, but not to overtly that you would go and say “oh wait. Magic is absolutely super fucking real”. Even tho the pantheon is shared by different cultures, each has their unique interpretation of who those supernatural entities are, how they interact, and how one should interact with them, if ever. But never on the grounds of “this religion is 100% absolutely true in this world”, which honestly? Really refreshing. Not a lot of stories go for such a nuanced take on the supernatural and how people interact with it.

The art in Rising Sand is some of the best I’ve seen in a comic that’s shared online for free, and the level of detail – including storytelling ones – is a testament to how much the Ty and Jenn care about this story and telling it right. Trust me, there is SO MUCH going on.

Content Warnings for Violence (a lot of it), gore and a lot of family stuff that I’m sure can hit close to home to a lot of people.