Dynamite Entertainment 2018
Written by Gail Simone
Illustrated by Walter Geovani
Coloured by Adriano Agusto
Lettered by Simon Bowland
Cover by Aaron Lopresti
The Lord of the Jungle and the She-Devil with a Sword find themselves up against an enemy who uses methods they cannot comprehend. In different times and places, our heroes must seek out the assistance they need to stop the evil Eson Duul before he destroys both of their worlds.
First off I want to say something about the cover here. I love what Aaron does here there is a clear and distinct feeling I get from it is classic. It feels more like an old school rendition and I absolutely adore that and in fact it’s covers like this one that make me pick up a book in the first place and flip through it.
I like the way that this book is structured, but then Gail always does a magnificent job with her her writing. I love how the past is woven into the present and that we are introduced to people who have a connection to one or the other, or both, that they’ve been completely unaware of. The how’s and why of that remain unclear and yet illuminating. What Gail manages to do here is bring forth information to move things forward in such a way that the subtlety shines through.
I love the characterisation here and if you need confirmation on just how gosh darn good it is then look at the scene where Sonja makes herself more comfortable and joins Tarzan and you’ll see exactly what I mean. Or the action that speaks louder than words like when Tarzan takes on the trained Aussie regiment. All of it combine to make the characterisation throughout incredibly strong regardless of who it is we’re seeing. Then there is Ahni and oh lord have mercy this is the character that we love and who drives us crazy all at the same time. He’s brilliant and his connection here and how he ties in their previous meetings into the story is extremely well done.
So while it feels like a lot of set-up going on it’s an important part of the story moving forward. These two have chased Eson Duul before it’s like a never ending cycle that somehow or another ends up happening over and over again. This idea is fascinating and while it easily ties in their history and why they cannot remember it, it also keeps things fresh, new and incredibly interesting. The history as twisted as it can be is one of the best things we learn this issue and it is going to be among the reasons I come back. I mean how does Eson remember if Ahni does?
Walter and Adriano do some stellar work on the interiors here. I like they make them seem so young and early in their lifetimes. Also the animals we see have such a realistic way about them even in comics form that they bring us all the right emotions and feeling we’re supposed to get form them. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a spectacular eye for storytelling. How backgrounds are utilised is nicely done and expands the moment and gives us a sense of perspective when it comes the scope of things.
The introduction of this friend of Tarzan’s is something I wasn’t expecting and I have to say I love that. Surprises like this one are the reasons we love reading stories I mean who would’ve expected this to happen? What a way to not only close out this issue but give the them a way to get to Eson Duul. There is some pretty darn genius storytelling going on in these pages ad I wouldn’t expect anything less.