(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)
The Prime is the headlining standard from pen maker The Mythic Pen Co. The owner, Brad, hand-makes each pen and offers 8 different models, mostly fountain pens, with rollerball and ballpoint options as well. Custom pens can be commissioned, though the shop doesn't list any current custom openings. Your best bet for seeing what Mythic has to offer is to head to their Instagram feed, Mythicpens, where it appears pens are sold as they are made. Or if you're lucky, catch them at a pen show.
This model is The Prime. It's quite large with straight sides, flat finials, and only a slight taper to the grip section. There's no furniture or flourish--it's a very minimal design that lets the material do all the talking.
Mythic sources their acrylics from lots of indie blank-makers. This particular material is called Basilisk and comes from Tim Crowe of Turnt Pen Co. In low light the color looks dark and subtle, but when the sun hits it, you get the full effect of silvery-sparkle-red-blue-purple loveliness. It's another one of those pens where I can lose time staring at all the shapes in the color swirls.
The Prime has a twist cap with very smooth threads, and the section unscrews from the body. It can take a cartridge, converter, or eyedropper fill. It writes well, with good balance, though it's a bit large for my hands. The lack of significant taper on the grip section makes the size a little harder to manage for me, but if you prefer larger pens and wide grips, this may be the perfect one for you.
The Prime takes a #6 JoWo nib. This one is a fine point, and it writes perfectly. The flow is good and it writes smoothly while showing fun ink characteristics. I do find that it dries quickly between uses. Even with daily use, it needs some prompting to get started. Once it's going, it's delightful. Perhaps it's a cap seal issue, or a feed issue, or it may be the ink I'm using (most likely the ink, but more science is needed).
The baseline Prime is priced at $175, which can go up if any fancy features are added. That's well in line with similar pens from similar makers and it's the least expensive of Mythic's full-sized fountain pens.
If you're a maker-pen addict, or acrylic-pen addict, Mythic's lineup is well worth checking out.
(This pen was purchased from Mythic Pens at regular retail at the 2022 Atlanta Pen Show.)
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