The fun of a cliffhanger ending.
Creative Staff:
Story: Matt Kindt
Art: David Rubin
What They Say:
Matt Kindt! David Rubin! From New York Times best-selling Mind MGMT creator Matt Kindt and Black Hammer’s David Rubin comes this fantasy adventure about a science-minded hero intent on keeping the balance between Earth and a magic world! With the final portal within their grasp, Boone, Grander, and team are on the cusp of saving both the Ether and Earth. However, victory won’t be sweet, as Ubel holds more power than once thought. This conclusion of book two packs in action while also pulling your heartstrings!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The second Ether miniseries comes to a close and it does so as a cliffhanger with the reveal that a third series is on the way. That wasn’t quite what I expected, hoping for some closure here, but Matt Kindt wants to put us through the ringer with what he’s producing here as we go downward first. It’s an interesting and downbeat installment that has some neat moments to it but it’s also one where David Rubin again gets to deliver some great looking pages. I love the way we get such a distinct look between the two worlds, especially with Boone himself, really is something that strikes a chord. Especially since the time on Earth is meant to be such a rough and emotional downer, Rubin gives it the kind of heartache it needs through design and color.
The early part is fun as it has the newsprint style story of Boone and what he would supposedly be doing in defeating tentacle creatures with his daughters by his side. But the reality is that Gale is the one that’s causing his problems and Grandor is already there, simply waiting on everyone else. The face-off with Gale is pretty fun with a really strong two-page spread layout for it after bringing the golems to life to take out Boone. The reality of the final portal is comical and Gale’s nervousness over it is simply delightful, especially considering what Grandor has to do. The bigger problem is that while this does solve the main problems of the portals in the short term, the Mayor of Agartha is in a really bad spot for handling this, mostly because the knowledge that Lord Ubel is behind it all can’t be acted upon because Lord Ubel was recently unveiled to be the new Golden Blaze that protects everything.
Suffice to say, Boone’s life goes in a bad direction here by being booted from the Ether and told never to return. This is a short sequence overall but bringing Boone back and seeing how many years have passed and what was lost in the meantime is heartrendingly brought to life. You’re left wanting a lot more of Perdua’s story but I just love the way the two connect ever so briefly here and just how much she’s done for him so he can survive in the Ether without having to deal with the food problem. Of course, time passes in there as well and his return sets the stage for the third series where this world is going to be just as radically unrecognizable as time goe on as well.
In Summary:
Ether: The Copper Golems has been a very fun series but the ending issue doesn’t quite stick the landing for me. The twist with Golden Blaze sets a delaying action, which is fine, but the flow of events just feel overly stacked here. The action in the first act is fun and I really liked what we got out of Boone and Perdua toward the end hit a certain sweet spot for me in storytelling and visual design. Rubin gets a lot of great stuff to work with here and showing us the turn for the worse toward the end just adds to the excitement. I’m uncertain where the third book will go overall but I’m anxiously looking forward to more of Boone’s adventures with the rest of the gang.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 12th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
