When you’re up against the Musketeers … never underestimate them.
Creative Staff:
Writer: Terry Kavanagh
Artwork: Daniel Mainé
Colors: Bryan Valenza
Letters: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
Merlin has disappeared into the timestream, and the Musketeers are the only ones who can stop his ultimate goal. Will they arrive in time to save the world, and the universe at large? One of the Musketeers pays the ultimate price!
Content: (please note that portions of review may contain spoilers):
With Merlin now in possession of the Chariot of Tarot, he is easily able to use its ability to create a rift through time. This was his intention all along, and now that Shang has arrived and deduced his objective, he casts a spell to allow the Musketeers to follow this foul fiend, with a few stops along the way. But as the malicious mage tumbles around an area he calls Unspacetime, the trio finds themselves within a more specific period, about three hundred twenty B.C. and in a chillingly gruesome place populated by Romans. With information implanted within their collective memories, they know a weapon is nearby which they need to defeat their foe, but unfortunately, it is the Spear of Destiny used during this event – the Crucifixion. As they skillfully pluck the weapon from a strangely familiar soldier, there is, unfortunately, no time to save anyone, with the magic warp pulling them back inside.
As the madman floats enthusiastically within the space of the Big Bang, the team arrives in Ancient Greece, specifically the Court of Dionysius amid confused guards and a power hungry courtier. It does not hesitate, once again knowing they are here for the Sword of Damocles, hanging precariously about the king’s throne, above the man who looks suspiciously like an older version of Merlin. Once again not having any time to confirm this treachery, they return to the rift, as the person in question begins to master his new abilities with drunken abandon. After one more leap, the friends find themselves within an underground grotto, next to a haughty man surrounded by naiads and sporting another of the tools they need – his trident. After the accomplishing the simple task of recovering this final weapon, the Musketeers return through the portal and find themselves confronted by their former mentor, consumed by the power of the universe and now creating one in his own image. How can these heroes accomplish anything equipped with three puny weapons stolen throughout time, against a god who could smite them with but a thought? There is only way to find out …
In Summary:
As The Musketeers comes to a close, the once promising story which writer Terry Kavanagh created of three friends somehow lost its way from being a tale of human relationships and became twisted into something used solely to support the ambitions of Merlin. The formulaic plot became predictable, borrowing ideas from the Dumas novel, and in the end action became more important than supporting the emotional bonds which should have been reinforced as in the source material. While there were attempts to repair these relationships, most of those opportunities appeared to be afterthoughts, in favor of showing us more treachery from within and of course through the villains. At times it seemed as if some story elements were there in the planning stages, but later cut but never explained what happened between points A and B, so it leaves gaps within the narrative which make for an even more bumpy ride.
Then as if these plot lapses weren’t bad enough, the leaked information from the previously released Grimm Fairy Tales Volume 2 #12 amplified the discord by revealing our main foe before he was exposed within the series itself. And while we’re shown Merlin worked for the Order of Tarot, or more exclusively Gruel, none of this exposition was linked between the titles to connect the facts. If this was originally going to be the intention, then why show readers this tidbit since it now appears through this title’s conclusion there was never any alliance, giving the impression the mage always planned to keep all the power for himself. With this ending, it now seems as if there was never any connection between Zenescope’s flagship and this title, keeping the plots separate and characters not knowing each other, or not afraid of any consequences through this story’s fallout.
Lastly, with this final issue, there seems to be a skip in logic or at least a clumsy attempt in closing the narrative as a whole, by using the classic standby of … time travel? I would expect this type of cliché within science fiction, but this narrative is supposed to be based on current technology and magic, not some obscure literary mechanism which has not been used in any prior Zenescope title with great success. Any time one hears of this story escape you would think of something like Doctor Who , a narrative where this trope is used to propel the tale in an effective way, and not Superman: The Movie in which it is used as the means to correct a mistake. Throughout this series the Chariot of Tarot was portrayed as an artifact through which Merlin and Morgan could obtain their goal, but as we progressed there were no details ever revealed and finally it appeared as his apprentice was frustrated from of the lack of information; as such, she followed her own path and method of getting what she wanted, however now it also seems as if Kavanagh had written the story into a corner and used the only way of changing the course of the book. Then we reach the obvious problem, if Merlin had become a god, why didn’t he know what was coming in the end? This lack of cohesion makes the finale as a whole flimsy at best, and collapsing under its own obliviousness at worst, as we run away from an inevitable collapse of frustration.
Throughout the entirety of this series, the visual panache of Daniel Mainé’s artistic stylings are what kept us enraptured within this title and Bryan Valenza’s rich palette of dark organic colors helped to anchor the intensity of the frenetic illustrations, however for this finale, things have changed in a drastic way. While we still have the grandiose action of the Musketeers fighting impossible odds, the transition to brighter colors makes events unfold in a strange way, or to put it more accurately, the constant shifting between light and shadow make tones are more pronounced but in an unflattering way. To start with a suffocating canvas of almost complete blackness may make for a dramatic method of presenting an evolving Merlin, but to surround him in a blinding aura and then transition into normalcy is a bit too much, even for Valenza’s powerful use of colors. I can understand the need to ground present reality against the empty vastness of space, but at the same time, the transposition between the two palettes is intense, leaving a lingering image of brightness or blackness. To see a smothering image versus lucidity is unsettling at times, even as you become attuned to the events, but toward the end, even tranquil skin tones become engulfed within the darkness. This is a shame since we still have the same magnificent artistic team, but surroundings cause for a transformation in the presentation, thereby leaving us with a somber impression for what was on the whole, an excellent display of their talents.
The Musketeers may have begun as an intriguing premise for a classic tale of heroism and friendship, but somewhere during the journey, it became lost within suffocating melodrama and unnecessary villainous escapades. I liked how the story started, but with convoluted storylines and leaked information, the title slowly began to slide down an inescapable tumble into tedium. The predictable nature of Merlin’s plans and a paradoxical twist at the end toward absurdity made for a story which lost any meaning, then add the lack of cohesion between this series and Zenescope’s primary title and we are left with a disappointing adaptation of one my favorite classic hero novels.
Grade: C+
Series Grade: C+
Age Rating: T (Teen)
Released By: Zenescope
Release Date: July 11, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
