Aspen Comics 2016
Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov & J.T. Krul
Penciled by Jordan Gunderson
Inked by Mark Roslan
Coloured by Peter Steigerwald & John Starr
Lettered by Josh Reed
Confrontations arose as humanity took the full brunt of Halazeel and Grace’s quest to increase their magical reign in their future by sabotaging the world in the present. As cities fell, Aspen and Malikai encountered Killian and his daughter, Kiani, and attempted to thwart the end of the world. But, the humans refused to simply roll over and die at the hands of greater forces—as Admiral Maylander revealed his own “end game” to use the Blue’s own powers against them…
So long as there are people like Admiral Maylander in the world we will never know peace. Too afraid to share power with those whom they don’t understand or that simple need to always be right leads to the worst decisions possible. Like if I can’t have it no one can. That’s what’s happening here if he can’t control things then there shall be nothing left to control when he’s done. It’s scary because in reality we see this sort of thing happening all the time and as much as they can the media ignores it or puts a different spin on it to ease the mind of the people.
Killian’s own thirst for vengeance now will lead the world to a war neither side can win. Though I find it interesting that this is Aspen’s world and there are no traces of Malikai’s people on it. Well aside from himself, Halazeel, and Grace. I kind of like the fact Mal and Aspen are at odds here as well, trusting one another led them here and they’ve seemingly been woefully ineffective to change the course of time. The boys do a helluva job writing this so that it’s gripping, revealing and there’s absolutely some stellar characterisation going on.
Then there’s the work on the interiors and wow. The two page spreads the attention to detail the use of page layouts through angles and perspective not to mention the use of backgrounds seriously make this visually epic. The flow created for the story is wonderfully done and the emotions you feel from these characters is pretty amazing.
You have to wonder if our heroes can indeed save the day or will the future they’ve seen unfold anyway? With the lives of two worlds at stake can they do anything but that which is absolutely necessary to ensure Hazaleel’s world doesn’t come to pass. If the Blue and Maylander have their way going forward the landscape of this planet changes and there’s no turning back. It’ll be interesting to see how Aspen and Mal pull out all the stops next issue to resolve this, if they can.
This is a hugely successful blending of Aspen and Malakai and hopefully we’ll see their two worlds merge into one in some way shape or form. It’d be interesting to see who he and his lineage deal with the Blue while all are hunted by humans. I am enjoying the fact that I cannot foresee how this is going to end. I look forward to next issue and seeing the stunning conclusion.