True heroes always persevere … even when the odds are against them.
Creative Staff:
Writer: Pat Shand
Artwork: J.G. Miranda
Colors: Hedwin Zaldivar and Ceci de la Cruz
Letters: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
Last year, Robyn Hood and her friends defeated the Cabal, an organization of ancient witches and wizards who were engaging in annual ritual sacrifices. However, with the Cabal gone, the evil that they had been attempting to keep at bay threatens to break free. Now that a full year has passed since the Cabal was taken out, Robyn must either stage a ritual sacrifice or face the apocalyptic wrath of the Four Horsemen.
Content (please note that portions of review may contain spoilers):
The former students of Arcane Acre have decided to come to New York City for a little fun, but why did they have to pick today? For even as they leave the station, Skye can see that a storm is approaching. Such as it is on this night when Robyn’s alliance tried to seal the portal once again … and failed. The Four Horsemen have escaped and now they wish to release their savage fury upon the world. War, Famine, Pestilence and Death roam the streets, striking down any who would be in their way, with none who may stand against them. However, they have been joined by one who only wants vengeance against her father Hades, namely the vampiric demigoddess Angelica. All she sees before herself is another plot by the God of Deceit, more lies to cloak her from the truth. She wants to protect the city in which she lives, and this Hellchild will go to any lengths to save it from her father’s sinister dealings.
Even as the heroes try to save those they can, the internal struggle between old friends Robyn and Marian continues to grow, the single group now struggling to stay whole. But amidst the chaos, the witch from Myst endeavors to carry out her original plan as her archer companion leads the others to keep this monumental menace at bay. Though as these harbingers easily brush aside the most valiant efforts of the saviors, the former God of the Underworld continues to engage his daughter; he will protect her, despite Angelica’s fanatical ravings that Hades still has other plans for these monsters. However what she does not know is that he has long forgiven her, and even within this titanic battle, this father’s obligations of protecting an ungrateful child takes precedence over his own well being. For as the two struggle to maintain their own dominance, a pale rider approaches the pair, wishing to strike down yet another helpless victim. This sinister being will have his prey, but will it be the bloodthirsty daughter or the now devoted Grecian god who will fall before its outstretched hand?
In Summary:
While this may merely be the second issue of the series, Pat Shand has blasted us with what I can only assume will be the first of many shocking events for the story. Of course this would be the impact of Hades protecting his daughter and the repercussions of what will happen to the god. It has been established that he was immortal, as Liesel has conceded with her misgivings of living with a divine being as he watches her grow old; this was, of course, the premise of Shand’s other spectacular series Van Helsing vs. Frankenstein, in which she tries to conjure a way to stay by his side. But now that Hades has met the touch of the Grim Reaper and survived, there is no telling how he will be affected or if this mystical creature’s ability will have any power over the former ruler of the underworld. As of the moment, it appears that he will now have to face the truth of his own mortality, and falling into the same morass of uncertainty which Liesel has been forced to confront every day she stays by his side. We know this will not be an easy path for the pair to face, but at least the tragedy has forced Angelica to deal with the misunderstanding that she had with her father. He protected her from Death, something a scheming conniver would never do if his intentions were as vile as she assumed; all of those years of cynicism imploded by the simple word … Father? – what a powerful moment. So now she sees the truth, even if he did ignore her while she grew up, he now sees the error of his ways and wants to protect this Hellchild, just like any true parent should and will want.
But of course, we cannot ignore the other unsettling incident embedded with the tale, something that will probably have just as much influence, if not more so than Hades’ collapse: the supposed heartbreaking end of Robyn and Marian’s friendship. I will admit that this crushed me more than the fall of a Grecian god since we have watched their relationship blossom and flourish over the four years the series thrived. Readers have seen them face impossible feats of daring, confront demons and monstrosities by which mere humans would have cringed and run away, faced the supposed end of the world before sealing the Four Horsemen, and then finally challenged by what was the most dangerous foe of all – marriage. They have met happiness, sadness, and adversity within their partnership, through Myst and Earth, never wavering in their compassion, only to have all those memories shattered due to misunderstanding and a disagreement in tactics. Many of us have watched or experienced friendships collapse from lesser uncertainties, but of course, every meeting and embrace are different, and no two can survive the same struggles which Marian and Robyn have been put through. But the stronger the friendship, the stronger the bond, but then again, this can also counterintuitively hold true. Let us just hope that their connection will not end as easily as it was painfully torn asunder.
But through all of this action and emotional finery, nothing would have become concrete without the powerfully moving artistry of J.G. Miranda. To start the issue off with a comical scene of the kids laughing and chuckling at Wiglaf’s expense is disarming and gives the leap into action all the more fervor when we focus on Skye’s expression – one of awe and disbelief. This is a brilliant segue to introduce the reader into the previous events and then to dedicate the faces of War, Famine, Pestilence and Death on the next page give them all the more impact before we witness their unbridled ferocity. The landscape has been laid to waste as the heroes attempt to delay the Horsemen with Hedwin Zaldivar’s vividly vibrant colors expressing the intensity of the battle; the use of sobering shades of darkness to envelope the harbingers makes them even all the more foreboding in their primal strength while the neon-lit familiars and magical incantations exploding over Marian try to match them in intensity but fall short in the end.
However, just as the conflict reaches its climax, we are treated to a total onslaught as the dénouement of the act quickly approaches. As the reader tries to take account of the aftermath, we switch gears by changing over to a new colorist, Ceci de la Cruz, who gives the story all the emotional significance with a melancholy palette of muted hues. While Miranda continues to center on the faces of the characters during the moving scenes, de la Cruz multiplies the tension with the skillful usage of an overcast screen, drawing the viewer in for psychological impact, until we arrive on that one panel which changes it all – Angelica cradling a fallen Hades; this single frame surrounded in grey and backlit by the full moon would have been spoiled by words, silence was all the more eloquent. Every panel thereafter just builds on the one before, the sadness and frustration bubbling under the surface, all of their grief straining to erupt behind gritted teeth until we arrive at the other significant moment of the story – Robyn and Marian’s confrontation. While we were introduced by close-ups of shouting mouths or cruelly strained eyes, nothing holds as much effect as the contortion on our beloved witch’s face, her eyes agape and mouth caught wide in a stunned expression. With Marian’s visage framed by her short black hair and body surrounded by a white collar and striped purple/black sweater, the paleness of her face is extenuated all the more, making the surprise of the event all the more powerful. What a forceful way to end the issue … making us wanting for more.
The players have been introduced and the opposing force has been released, but with the story just beginning, we are given obstacles from which the heroes may never recover. To be able to level the playing field this early on in the narrative will shake the tale to the core, but at the same time, it will also strengthen the remaining members to forge onward ever more earnestly. Let us just hope that this new conviction won’t result in more allies falling under the scythe and the rest succumbing to his companions while the world crumbles behind them.
Grade: A++
Rating: T (Teen)
Released By: Zenescope
Release Date: September 28th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99