Waiting on a paradox.
Creative Staff:
Story: Rafael Albuquerque, Mike Johnson
Art: Rafael Albuquerque
What They Say:
As Dr. Hamm and the black-ops soldier Collins try to survive in the prehistoric past, the fierce warrior Nila and the chrononaut Joshua attempt to convince the rebel council to take up arms against the Tyrant before he releases a dangerous scourge and wipes them all from the face of the Meld!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As much fun as this series has been from the start, it also has to deal with the problem of giving its reader a headache in trying to figure it all out. The color coding continues to be a great use of setting things so it’s easy to understand and figure out, since that’s often a problem in other time travel books unless there’s something blatant about it, and that also gives each storyline its own uniqueness that lets it stand out all the more. The first two issues threw a lot of things at us as it moved in different periods and introduced several characters, but it also hung over our heads the fact that we really don’t know a lot of what’s going on simply because most of the primary characters are keeping their own secrets, knowing or unknowingly. That can be frustrating in some books, but here it’s presented so well that it turns into a positive for the book.
There are three storylines/time periods that operate here, though the one in the past with Hamm and his current protector is a minor one that’s going to propel forward with what happens at the end here. It’s certainly interesting to see how Hamm is freaking out and that they’re just trying to cope with the situation as best as they can since it’s pretty surreal. It adds a nice bit of “color” to the book that spends its time elsewhere. A lot of it is spent in the Meld overall, with some intriguing moments between the Tyrant and his Spear as they talk about having two time travel ships at their disposal soon and the way they can use the nanomachines they’ve acquired to conquer multiple points in time and control it all from the Meld. It’s a grand plan that does leave you wondering how paradoxes and the like will factor into it, but it’s the kind of plan that shows some real scale and vision that’s enticing.
A lot of what the book deals with though is that of Joshua, as Nila has him being questioned by the Elders as she sees him as the way they can fight back against the Tyrant. Joshua is just pretty confused by all of this as his memory is hazy in a lot of ways, which has him kind of going with the flow as best as he can. But when they discover that the Tyrant is going to come and capture him and kill everyone else, it shows the schism in how the place works since Nila wants to fight but the Elders insist on fleeing. Thankfully, the evacuation side gets little attention and instead we see Joshua and Nila, along with Hari, going to the Tyrants place to try and kill him since she’s desperate to change this place. It’s fascinating to see how it plays out with Joshua and the Spear meeting each other and Joshua realizing what his true mission is, though we get only a sliver of it ourselves to piece together, but it shifts the pieces around the board well to make it really exciting to see how it will unfold.
In Summary:
EI8HT continues to build some intriguing worlds and places in time with what it wants to do, showing the connections as they’re exposed more and what the real meanings are. Giving more time to Joshua here works in its favor as he’s starting to shift from reactive to proactive definitely helps to give it a greater sense of purpose, and more answers are tantalizing on the tip of the tongue here. Nila’s fun to watch with the way she wants to change the world and getting some key time with the Tyrant and the Spear certainly adds its own color. There’s a lot going on here but narrowing its focus for a bit with this issue ups the engagement level, especially with such detailed and thoroughly engaging artwork that you just want to take your time tracing your fingers over.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: April 15th, 2015
MSRP: $3.50
