Book of Death #2
PUBLISHER: Valiant Comics
STORY: Robert Venditti
ART: Robert Gill with Doug Braithwaite
Review by: Joe Walters
Summary: A new dark age of the Valiant Universe draws nearer as the events foretold in the Geomancer’s BOOK OF DEATH unfold! Convinced the unnatural disasters tearing our world apart are a direct result of the new Geomancer’s arrival, the combined forces of the Valiant Universe are forced to confront the Eternal Warrior about his new charge. But to prevent civilization from falling into a new Dark Age, the Eternal Warrior won’t go down without a fight!
Review: Key Characters:
Gilad Anni-Padda, The Eternal Warrior:
A master of ancient and Modern combat, protector of Geomancers for thousands of years. Member of Unity.
Tama, the Geomancer:
The latest in a long line of mystic who speak for theEarth and shepherd humanity to new heights, this eleven year old girl comes from the future (see the Valiant tpb) with the Book of the Geomancer.
Aric of Dacia, X-O Manowar:
Fifth century Visigoth warrior before he was abducted by aliens and stranded in modern time with a sentient suit of armor. Member of Unity.
Colin King, Ninjak:
Calculaing, mysterious, and wealthy, this British superspy often freelances for the highest bidder, but his personal code of ethics sometimes aligns with MI-6 and Unity.
Amanda Mckee, Livewire:
Once the pawn of a megalomaniacal billionaire (see Harbinger), Livewire now uses her technopathic ability to control any electronic device. Leader of Unity.
Neville Alcott, Gentlemen Spy:
MI-6 liasison for Unity, little is known about the man who pulls the strings of the most powerful team on Earth.
Col. Jamie Capshaw:
Commanding officer of G.A.T.E., the Global Agency for Threat Excision. She works with her British counterpart, MI-6's Neville Alcott, to address unfolding crises around the world.
This issue shows a lot of what I've come to enjoy about modern Valiant comics. The team of Venditti, Gill, and Braithwaite flawlessly blend the dialogue and art to tell their story involving a great mixture of action with behind the scenes lull time that made me eagerly await turning the page to see what happens next. One thing I should point out that unlike issue one, issue two credits David Baron on the cover for his coloring work. Book of Death starts issue 2 with a good amount of action promised at the end of the first issue and continues to tell the tail of Gilad the Eternal Warrior and Tama the future Geomancer as they travel the world tying to avert world wide armageddon. Alliances are lost, interesting bed fellows are made, and trust is called into question as the Book of the Geomancer is read from further exploring the possible doomsday scenario The Valiant will inevitably face.
PUBLISHER: Valiant Comics
STORY: Robert Venditti
ART: Robert Gill with Doug Braithwaite
Review by: Joe Walters
Summary: A new dark age of the Valiant Universe draws nearer as the events foretold in the Geomancer’s BOOK OF DEATH unfold! Convinced the unnatural disasters tearing our world apart are a direct result of the new Geomancer’s arrival, the combined forces of the Valiant Universe are forced to confront the Eternal Warrior about his new charge. But to prevent civilization from falling into a new Dark Age, the Eternal Warrior won’t go down without a fight!
Review: Key Characters:
Gilad Anni-Padda, The Eternal Warrior:
A master of ancient and Modern combat, protector of Geomancers for thousands of years. Member of Unity.
Tama, the Geomancer:
The latest in a long line of mystic who speak for theEarth and shepherd humanity to new heights, this eleven year old girl comes from the future (see the Valiant tpb) with the Book of the Geomancer.
Aric of Dacia, X-O Manowar:
Fifth century Visigoth warrior before he was abducted by aliens and stranded in modern time with a sentient suit of armor. Member of Unity.
Colin King, Ninjak:
Calculaing, mysterious, and wealthy, this British superspy often freelances for the highest bidder, but his personal code of ethics sometimes aligns with MI-6 and Unity.
Amanda Mckee, Livewire:
Once the pawn of a megalomaniacal billionaire (see Harbinger), Livewire now uses her technopathic ability to control any electronic device. Leader of Unity.
Neville Alcott, Gentlemen Spy:
MI-6 liasison for Unity, little is known about the man who pulls the strings of the most powerful team on Earth.
Col. Jamie Capshaw:
Commanding officer of G.A.T.E., the Global Agency for Threat Excision. She works with her British counterpart, MI-6's Neville Alcott, to address unfolding crises around the world.
This issue shows a lot of what I've come to enjoy about modern Valiant comics. The team of Venditti, Gill, and Braithwaite flawlessly blend the dialogue and art to tell their story involving a great mixture of action with behind the scenes lull time that made me eagerly await turning the page to see what happens next. One thing I should point out that unlike issue one, issue two credits David Baron on the cover for his coloring work. Book of Death starts issue 2 with a good amount of action promised at the end of the first issue and continues to tell the tail of Gilad the Eternal Warrior and Tama the future Geomancer as they travel the world tying to avert world wide armageddon. Alliances are lost, interesting bed fellows are made, and trust is called into question as the Book of the Geomancer is read from further exploring the possible doomsday scenario The Valiant will inevitably face.
About half way through issue two, I now really realize how much Ninjak is the Batman of the Valiant universe. I always thought that was a simple knock off comparison, but something happened that really made me look at him this way. The story builds quickly as we find out the fate of this world's heroes, and even during lull moments your attention is kept by the beautiful artwork in the background. I'm often not a fan of different styles of art in one book, but this team is really pulling it off well. A sense of doom falls once the prophecy is finished and the identity of the corrupted Geomancer is made public, however, if you read issue one this really wasn't a big surprise. The motivation for the character was a twist I did not see coming though. It makes the corrupted one actually somewhat relatable which is always a good thing when introducing a new character.
By the end of the issue, there is a major reveal on who is pulling the strings behind the events leading towards the final showdown. With that being said, this is one of the first things Valiant has done in an issue which slightly put me off. Most stories from the company you don't have to have a knowledge of a lot of their titles, but this one, I literally have zero clue about the villain for he is from what in my opinion is the single worst book Valiant has ever put out be it current incarnation or the 90's books of yesteryear. On the plus side, after a quick google search of the character I feel I know enough now to do a little speculating on where this event might head and it could actually open up a lot of possibilities over all for Valiant as a publication. Now that I've gotten used to the creative team, I am no longer feeling remorse that the Book of Death has neither Matt Kindt or Jeff Lemire as the writer. (Sorry boys, I still love your work.) I give issue two a solid 4 out of 5 stars this time and I am frantically trying to catch up on the stack of Valiant back issues I picked up over the weekend just to see how the crossover affects current titles (if at all). Got to read the two tie ins out so far again to gear back up for issue 3 to drop later this month. We'll see you in a few weeks. Joe
By the end of the issue, there is a major reveal on who is pulling the strings behind the events leading towards the final showdown. With that being said, this is one of the first things Valiant has done in an issue which slightly put me off. Most stories from the company you don't have to have a knowledge of a lot of their titles, but this one, I literally have zero clue about the villain for he is from what in my opinion is the single worst book Valiant has ever put out be it current incarnation or the 90's books of yesteryear. On the plus side, after a quick google search of the character I feel I know enough now to do a little speculating on where this event might head and it could actually open up a lot of possibilities over all for Valiant as a publication. Now that I've gotten used to the creative team, I am no longer feeling remorse that the Book of Death has neither Matt Kindt or Jeff Lemire as the writer. (Sorry boys, I still love your work.) I give issue two a solid 4 out of 5 stars this time and I am frantically trying to catch up on the stack of Valiant back issues I picked up over the weekend just to see how the crossover affects current titles (if at all). Got to read the two tie ins out so far again to gear back up for issue 3 to drop later this month. We'll see you in a few weeks. Joe