Blog

Publisher: Top Cow
Writer: Ron Marz
Artist: Stjepan Sejic
Cover: Stjepan Sejic

Minor Spoilers

“Illumination pt 3”: Okay first off, did you check out the preview of this issue we put up last week?  You did?  Good!  Now if you liked that, well it was NOTHING compared to how great this issue was.  This series is the full package so far, with a great story assisted by great art which is culminating into the prelude for something even bigger on the horizon; not just for the new Angelus, but also for the Top Cow universe as a whole.

As Sabine’s Angelus Warriors find the Artifact that they were looking for, they quickly find out that getting it out of Hell may prove to be a bit harder than expected.  But that task may be a cake walk compared to Dani’s meeting with her father, as Finch is with her and is asking if she’s going to tell her dad about them.  Dani lets her know that they’re friends, and whatever else will be dealt with later.  This doesn’t sit too well with the lovestruck Finch, so she helps make the meeting with dad a little awkward for Dani, though still funny at times.  But the fun actually starts when Dani goes to the bathroom and gets a visit from a couple of Darklings, who bring her to their boss: Jackie Estacado, the bearer of the Darkness.

He knows that the Darkness and Angelus exist as enemies, so he takes the proactive approach and decides to kill her before she can do the same to him.  Dani tries to let him know that things are different and that she’s not like the last Angelus, but Jackie isn’t trying to hear anything she has to say and cuts loose on her.  While all of this is going on, Sabine is watching the fight from a rooftop and is asked by an Angelus Warrior if they should not go and assist; but Sabine decides to just hold off and let their new leader prove herself.

I’m liking Dani’s character more and more, as here I don’t see her being in Sara’s (Witchblade) shadow, but coming into her own and trying to find her legs (or wings, if you prefer) as the new Angelus.  From the beginning, Marz has been lighting this series up, and with the addition of Tom Judge into the story (surprise!  But hey, it was in the preview from Top Cow!), that just took it to another level and adds a bit more to the story.  Knowing that Jackie was appearing in this issue, I was most looking forward to seeing the Darklings, as they always provide some type of comedy relief, and Marz didn’t disappoint here.  I could wax poetic regarding Sejic’s visuals here, but I’ll keep it mellow when I say that he makes Hell look good!  Page after page was just great, and the visual effects of the Darkness were just a joy to look at as he played off of the whole light vs. dark thing.  I think that Jackie’s subtle transformation in those three small panels were one of my favorite sequences in the book.

I didn’t think a series that focused on Dani in any incarnation would be such a great read, but this is a rich and fun story so far that has a bit more meat in it than expected.  It’s always good when a comic exceeds your expectations.

For more on Angelus and other Top Cow titles look here!

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