Mad Cave Studios 2018
Written by Mark London
Illustrated by Mauricio Villarreal
Lettered by Andrew S. Zea
Previously in Knights of the Golden Sun:
Seven years have passed since Michael, Raphael, and Lucifer went missing. That all changed when the House of David confirmed Michael's location and spread the word in hopes of them reaching the remaining archangels. Almost as if it were divine intervention, Gabrielle heard the rumours and went to Babylon to confirm them. Upon her arrival, she was shocked to see Azrael had wiped Michael's memory and kept him as her slave. Michael was unwilling to listen to reason and a fight ensued between the archangels. Just as it was looking grim for Gabrielle, she and Michael were saved by a warrior from the House of David...
Raphael fights as Alexander’s generals vie for power though he made a promise to Miriam to watch over her so he stays. It is a nice look at something that we know and see today and it makes as little sense then as it does now. I think one of the aspects to this story that Mark brings to the forefront is that history is what we believe it to be, as there is very little accurate written word that isn’t biased by those vying for power. Still he brings events to the book that did happen and it’s as educational as it is entertaining so there are a number of points to be made but for now I believe it’s impressive to see Mark blend the fact with fiction.
I like the way that this is structured. There are a few different storylines permeating the book and how we see how they transition is extremely well done. Alright so giants exist here too, sure why not I mean I guess David and Goliath was a story like that right? I always assumed that he was a giant of a man as Giants were more a Greek thing but hey it’s a story and I'm not in charge. Still to see her being called a bird is cute and that the “G” has abandoned everyone so she loses her power in the process is also a new one on me. See this is what Mark does though he makes the reader think of what they know, what they’ve seen and gets you to be more involved in the story then you might have been prepared for. I love that I have to think about things and that I have to remember what I’ve learned over the years.
Digital artwork has certainly come a long way in recent years. So t see the way that bodies are created so that they have the right proportions to them is nice to see. Although that being said Michael’s arm always looks like I was fully drawn then erased, I know he’s missing a part of it but that erased feeling isn’t a good one. Also I think there are times the scale of human to Angel should be looked at a little more closely. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a good eye for storytelling. Backgrounds being utilised the way they are is great to see though I would like to see a little more the last page that may be the colour of the drapes but I want to see the folds in the drapes since they’ve been established already. It is the little things like that which we notice and if you aren’t going to keep that consistency then you damn well better make sure what we see is utterly flawless, which it’s not.
All things considered equal this is a great book that has an interesting take on history and the role that angels and other supernatural beings play. The writing is exceptional, with strong characterisation a wonderful flow and excellent pacing plus it’s beautifully illustrated and shows why e emergence of more small companies means the options for where to see strong storytelling has grown exponentially.