In this review of The Autumn Kingdom: The Wraithbound Queen #1, Sommer and Winter move on to the next phase of their quest. But things are about to get a bit more complicated.
The Autumn Kingdom: The Wraithbound Queen #1
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Art and Main Cover: Christopher Mitten
Variant Covers: Morgan Beem, Juan Moore
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: February 4, 2026
This review contains spoilers
The Autumn Kingdom: The Wraithbound Queen #1 starts with an excerpt of Elsethriel’s journey thorough a hellscape to find her (deceased) sister to end her once and for all. It details how she’s carved her way through demons and innocent souls alike.
Back with the girls, their mother is begging them not to go looking for their father. But they’re determined to find him. And if they can also save any other potential Fae sacrifices in the process, that’s even better. And so, everyone they’d already saved from the cave (aside from their mother) is on-board with them going on this dangerous quest.
They know they need to get to the Blood Fields, and there’s a bit of discussion about why the Fae need human blood to save their land (with Winter bringing up the “They’re magic” argument). One theory as to why the human blood is so necessary: revenge for what humanity had done to their realm in the first place. They also talk about Sommer’s sword (known as a Traitor’s Blade).
They find some stairs, and Sommer seems to know just which way to go, Winter wondering if the sword is actually guiding her. And that’s when the swarm of goblins attack. Sommer’s slashing through them, and it turns out the goblins have air support.
During the battle, Winter tries to get Sommer to retreat with her, moving up on the steps. She’s knocked off of the steps and carried off by one of the more bird-like creatures. There are scenes showing Elsethriel’s journey alongside Sommer’s goblin-killing spree.
She eventually gets control of one of their mounts and has every intention of tracking down her sister.
So, before diving into this one, I felt the need to track down and read the first “Autumn Kingdom” installment, just in case. While it was good to get a bit of extra context for this story, there are still enough threads in chapter 2’s first issue that a newcomer could pick up on what’s going on.
The conversation between the two sisters, between when they leave the cave and when they reach the steps, drops a bit of exposition on the reader: enough to either give fans of the first part a refresher or help newcomers make sense of this world they’ve entered into.
I also appreciate that we’re dealing with a world of dark Fae. Looking at some of the classic folklore, Faeries aren’t always the most altruistic of beings and can be tricky bastards. In this case, they’re out for blood in the most literal way possible.
Art-wise, one of my favorite aspects of all may have to be the design of the Traitor’s Blade. The edge of that sword is jagged and looks particularly painful. It’d probably be able to deal some decent blunt-force trauma, given that the thing looks bigger than the girl wielding it.
The image of her holding the sword, on the back of her stolen mount, with every intention of tracking down half of her family at this point is a great one, and if anything in this comic deserves a splash page unto itself, it’s that one.
Also, digging the mushroom-steps. It’s one of those things that feels particularly fitting for a Fae world, even if this Fae world runs on vengeance and classic folklore vibes as opposed to whimsey. It’s otherworldly and fun to look at.
And speaking of Sommer, the parallels between her and the protagonist of her father’s books (Elsethriel) are portrayed pretty well. There’s the part where they’re both mortals roaming a land where they’re not entirely welcome, carving their way through residents with some degree of pleasure (there are times where Sommer seems like she’s enjoying this). By the end of this installment, they also share a goal of tracking down a sister.
So far, Sommer’s reasons are a bit less homicidal than Elsethriel’s…but we’ve still got a few more issues to go and who knows what the girl would be put through by the time all’s said and done.
Final Thoughts
Welcome back to the world of Autumn Kingdom. With the sisters being separated, Sommer finds herself alone and things promise to get more dangerous from here. It’s an excellent start to the next Autumn Kingdom chapter with The Autumn Kingdom: The Wraithbound Queen #1, though the exposition may have felt a little much at points.
