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Crossroads Comics #118-Pure Light


It’s Tuesday which means it’s time for Crossroads Comics!

This week’s feature is Pure Light. Pure Light is a Legend of Spyro fancomic by RusCSI that follows a dragon named Vale and his friends as they attempt to take a stand against the Dark Masters and their army. One year after Malefor’s defeat, Spyro suddenly went mad. He freed the dark master and joined him. And while Cynder attempted to stop them, she failed and barely survived. Now dark creatures from around the world have emerged and continually assault the last stronghold, the city of Warfang. People blame the purple dragons for the doom that has plagued them, so when the purple dragon that was supposed to have been killed many years ago is suddenly revealed to be a citizen within the walls of Warfang, he must decide if he is going to defend the city and society that hates his very existence, or to give in to his dark impulses to join those that came before him.

Pure Light is a very interesting comic because, as someone who’s only knowledge of the Spyro franchise comes from a single let’s play of the first Legend of Spyro game, one would think I would have a hard time following what is going on. However, the comic does very well to establish its own lore and explain things in a way that even if you don’t have much knowledge of the Spyro franchise of a whole, you can still follow what’s going on. Much of the main cast are wholly original characters, and while some old characters from the franchise do appear, at this point in the story, knowledge of them is not really required to understand what is going on, as the comic does well to usually explain who they once were and what has happened since they were last seen in the official franchise. The only exception to this thus far has been Sparks, who was just recently introduced into the story, so I can only assume that his role in the franchise will be elaborated on later in the story.

One thing that I’ve really enjoyed in this story is the integration of technology and use of prosthesis. The best example of this is Vale, our main character. It is revealed very early on that Vale is a Purple Dragon and uses a collar to maintain his disguise as a normal ice dragon. Vale also has a prosthetic rear leg, something that he has grown up with due to an injury from when he was nearly killed before he could hatch. I can’t delve into it too much more because of later story spoilers, but this integration of technology is really interesting since it isn’t often you see a strong balance between magic and technology in a single universe.

This comic also has some very interesting friendship dynamics. The four main protagonists, Vale, Burner, TJ, and Electroy, at the beginning of the comic are the best of friends. But the story makes it clear very quickly that their friendship is not without its own problems. For one, Vale has yet to reveal to anyone outside of his own family that he is a Purple Dragon, for fear that they will hate him due to the societal fears around Purple Dragons. In addition, the comic also lays the groundwork early on for a conflict between Burner and Electroy due to Burner’s dream and inability to become a Guardian as compared to Electroy’s status as a Guardian Apprentice but complete disinterest in the position. This conflict is in part due to another third conflict surrounding the class system. The citizens of Warfang are divided into 1st, 2nd, or 3rd class based on wealth amongst other things. The 1st class is known for their immense wealth and rather disgusting views towards lower class citizens, and while Electroy and TJ do not share these views, it has resulted in some of the conflict surrounding their interactions with their friends and others. Likewise, Burner, as a 3rd class citizen, is forbidden from becoming a Guardian despite his immense talent and skill with the Fire Element, because the Guardians do not wise to have a poor 3rd class citizen mess up their reputation. It makes for interesting dynamics between the group, especially when Vale’s calm personality isn’t present to keep everyone balance. Already as the comic progresses, we are seeing the characters grown from these conflicts and mature into better people, hopefully allowing for them to become who they are meant to be once they are adults.

All in all, Pure Light is a very interesting comic that I’d recommend giving a read if you’re into dragons or Spyro. The whole thing is available on both ComicFury and Deviantart. Rather interestingly, the fanbase around Pure Light has grown so large that this fancomic also has fancomics based on its world. So if you read Pure Light and want more, be sure to check out the other fanworks that both the author and other creators have contributed to the Pure Light expanded universe. And if you’re interested in supporting the author, consider following them on Twitter and Deviantart, or buying them a coffee on Ko-fi.

Crossroads Comics
Ask Team Lightbringers What was that thing?
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PMD: Explorers of Life This is, of course, dependent on this plan actually working of course.
Pokémon Rising Shadows Finally we get to see what’s in the box!
Pokémon: Shadow of the Sun And that’s chapter one!

ComicFury Comics
Dark Kingdom Abra seems intent on executing this plan nonetheless.
King of Light Wonder why the chase
MK’s the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Seems not all is as it should be.
Of Rain and Snow What pretty backgrounds!
PMD: Seeds of Dissonance An oran berry a day keeps the doctor away!
Pokémon: Team Fireheart Well there goes that idea.
Pure Light Seems Sparks didn’t want to linger to chat.
Shinka: The Last Eevee Is it time for a midnight escape?
Spirited Souls A counterattack!

Deviantart Comics
Galar Adventures Seems like the little guy was just hungry.
Golden Sun What’s so special about this Pokédex?
Jet’s Black Nuzlocke So they only have one shot at this.
Milos from Home Well this is going to end well.
PMD: On Borrowed Time Perhaps Dielle will get it next time!
Timetale Can Papyrus break through?
Trick of the Night Will it work?

Off-site Comics
A Tale of Two Rulers Well that could have gone better.
Ask the Dark Types Quite the name Karl has.
Cloud in a Bottle Ooh a new character!
Daily Mewtwos It appears one character is stronger than the other.
Diamond Spinel AU Hopefully they can fix this… maybe?
Floating On So…
Steven AUniverse: Ask WhitePearl and Steven Maybe Ruby will be friendly?


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