The landscape is likely littered with cults.
Creative Staff:
Story: George Mann
Art: Joe Eisma
Colors: Michael Garland
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
What They Say:
As the Celestials discover the truth about the Terran seed, Libra tries to tip the balance in their favour, and a betrayal in Shiptown puts Gemini on Joss’s trail. Meanwhile, held prisoner in the Atomists’ camp, the ghoulem’s head helps Joss plot an explosive escape-but even success means facing her deepest fears: the shades.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I really dug the first few installments of Engineward and this one kind of strays a little but into an expected area. George Mann delivers us a look at some of what exists out in the wastes past where the group has gone before in their travels and probably for good reason. Mann keeps things moving well here and provides for some good stuff for Joe Eisma to illustrate. A look at a new cult is always fun in setting up how they operate while also dealing with how our core cast reactions along with some time spent with the Celestials. Suffice to say, it covers a fair bit of ground here.
The time back at the village is one that I do like as it shows how Libra operates in sussing out information from the locals and then organizing to deal with it, which means putting Gemini o Joss’ trail. Though others are involved its primary focus is on Joss since she’s the one most connected to the ghoulem and got it running again, even if accidentally. The questioning is fun in its own way even if I expected more deference out of their target, but you can see the meaker side of him as he gets assigned to transport around the twins. The consensus is an understandable one, however, in that while they do have something pretty powerful out there in Joss’ hands, they’re not convinced she’s aware of what it really is or that it can actually lead them to anything. But they’re operating with some real caution just in case.
With Joss and her team, things have not gone well since being captured and it’s only getting worse. This is actually a quick section overall, all things considered, as they figure out quickly that this group is a cult of the atom itself, which the ghoulem fills them in on a bit. Because they’ve been discovered by Joss’ group, they now have to make them all members of it and must stay there in order to keep themselves hidden from the world and whatever plans they’re working there. It’s pretty standard stuff with some nice minor designs, but it basically quickly forces our group to trust the ghoulem, once again, to figure a way out of this so they can get back on their journey. It’s got some nice action to it and it definitely lets Eisma work some really good designs to hint more of what’s to come, so it’s enjoyable in a more simplistic sense here.
In Summary:
While this feels like a bit of a side quest, one that may come back to haunt them later on, it does help to flesh out more of what this world is like. Highlighting that descendants of the colonists may have ended up this way as well isn’t a surprise and it makes clear there may be a lot more out there in the wastelands that will be brand new to everyone. I did like the material with the Celestials just a bit more since it showed more of how they work together, the friction within, and the forward movement of the hunt since they’ve had less page time overall. But it’s a solid issue overall that has me looking forward to what curves may come next for it.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Vault Comics | Amazon | ComiXology
Release Date: October 21st, 2020
MSRP: $3.99
