Thrillbent/IDW Publishing 2015
Written by Mark Waid
Illustrated by Barry Kitson
Coloured by Chris Sotomayor
A DECADE AFTER THE GROUNDBREAKING FIRST VOLUME OF EMPIRE, MARK WAID AND BARRY KITSON’S BELOVED EISNER NOMINATED SERIES RETURNS TO PRINT WITH THE ALL NEW EMPIRE: UPRISING! IT'S BEEN A YEAR SINCE THE EVENTS OF THE ORIGINAL EMPIRE, AND MUCH HAS CHANGED FOR GOLGOTH, THE FIRST SUPERVILLAIN TO FINALLY HAVE CONQUERED THE WORLD. BUT CAN HE HOLD ONTO HIS REIN—AND DOES HE EVEN WANT TO?
If you haven’t read the first story don’t worry while this is a continuation it also stands alone and a good jumping on point for new readers. It may however cause a strong desire to contact you local comic shoppe to order the trade. All you need to know is what i’ve posted above. Suffice it to say neither man has lost a step they are just as good as they’ve ever been if not all the better for having been around so long.
Okay so right off the bat we see a faction outside the Empire who wish to end Golgoth’s reign. Golgoth is a villain and as you read this story you really see what kind of man he is and what kind of despicable acts he endorses so that his reign as ruler is both out of fear well okay mainly fear. A teacher talks to her class about what day it is and it’s importance and what Golgoth has done, though as a reader you see the reality of those facts, yes he eliminated hunger and disease but it’s the way that he does it which is kind of scary and yet you think could this have been any despot ruler in Earth’s history, Hitler comes to mind.
The way the scenes were done by Barry are incredibly well done while observing a moment of silence for the lost Princess and what the population is expected to do. It’s a little unnerving and more than a tad fanatical but honestly it’s the world run by this kind of villain so what would you really expect if he lost his daughter? The story and the characterization here is freaking incredible and moving forward to a group of dissidents while the silence is happening well that is handled so well.
It’s nice to see pockets of the resistance being bold enough to do what they are doing but it also shows us something else. That in the past year of ruling with an iron fist Golgoth may have lost his edge a bit. Perhaps he is the kind of man that needs to have an opponent to really be at his best and while this little rag tag band of nobodys isn’t exactly going to challenge him, see the confrontation within these pages, it’s something that he’s forgotten about and possibly how to deal with. Complacency or stagnation either could be used so seeing how the actions and their ramifications are going to ripple out through this tale have me terribly excited for what’s to come.