The threat is teased all the more.
Creative Staff:
Story: Ray Fawkes, Chuck Wendig,
Art: Johnny Desjardins, Alvaro Sarraseca
Colors: Mohan, Triona T. Farrell
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
The growing mystery in the Lost Valley threatens to envelop the Earth and destroy any future mankind has. While Samson, last man on Earth, stalks the threat, little does he know the threat stalks HIM! And some five-hundred years earlier, Doctor Spektor faces his destiny while Magnus investigates a puzzle that will ultimately change everything!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening installments of The Sovereigns has been interesting to be sure with what Fawkes is doing with the story combined with some really enjoyable artwork from Desjardins. It’s not a complicated story but rather a complex one with the various pieces that are being teased out while also loading up a few other series alongside it. Having enjoyed these characters and numerous permutations of them over the years something that feels more layered and planned out is definitely appealing and the team is doing a good job of that even though they’re basically introducing us to these characters for the first time, as well as very different settings than before.
The threat that’s looming in the Lost Valley is what’s driving the bigger picture but it’s one that’s playing out from just one perspective and not clearly for the reader. This issue spends a lot of time with it as Spektor has now gone up against it in full and has realized that it’s far more than he can handle. It’s a confusing sequence of events overall since Spektor isn’t someone to easily latch onto in terms of character but he realizes just how powerful this thing is and that it’s waited a long time in order to win at the bigger game, having operated while the rest of the main players occupied themselves with other projects and essentially became kings and queens of their own little fiefdoms. That has kept them separate and made it easier for whatever this is to grow and establish itself, utilizing the secrecy of the Lost Valley to pull it off.
The main focus with this issue beyond that is on Magnus, who has now returned to his place after interacting with Solar a bit. Solar, for her part, is starting to return her focus to the world itself and that of the Lost Valley but it’s more setup for what’s to come than anything noteworthy revealed. Magnus, for his part, is still trying to find Spektor but has realized how bad things are getting, especially with more refugees trying to get to the Lost Valley that aren’t making it. That has him going public about Turok’s apparent death five years earlier and leads to some clarification on the machine presence in the world and Magnus’ own, which I wish was getting more story attention in this book in order to cement him better. That combined with his brief emergency communication with Spektor puts everything into more formal motion as they’re all now aware of what, if not who, they’re up against.
In Summary:
The Sovereigns continues to be an intriguing series that has me curious with where it’s going. I’m enjoying the other works that are slowly starting to come out as well so there’s plenty to dig into for this fan of the characters and the ways they can be reinvented. Fawkes is working a slow path to the reveal while providing a lot of foundations for many things in this mini shared universe and Desjardins is delivering some great looking pages for it through and through. This issue also includes a Turok backup story but these things never work well for me as I’m not always reading the books they crossover into and they’re never enough pages to feel like they do anything besides spin the wheels a bit, sadly.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: June 14th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
