Zenescope Entertainment 2014
Written by Pat Shand
Illustrated by Roberta Ingranata
Coloured by Slamet Mujiono
Robyn and Marian’s search for Avella led them to the Mesopotamia, a hotel where Robyn believes the Cabal works in secret. Before they could get inside, Marian was infected by a strange sickness. Believing that the Cabal purposely targeted them, Robyn races to find a cure, while the plague begins to spread in Manhattan.
After Robyn drops off Marian at the hospital where they are getting into their hazmat suits and proceeding with quarantine procedures a certain NYPD officer gets a call about who dropped patient zero, Marian, off. Now normally Robyn goes off half cocked as it is and she’s a shoot first ask questions later kind of gal but with Marian being sick she’s more distraught than ever and it’s affecting her judgment.
I’m not surprised that her instincts take her where she needs to go. The woman whose spell sent them to the Mesopotamia and then got weird, or twitchy as Robyn puts it. Oh what a tangled web we weave as she fesses up what she knows. I love Robyn she wants her to gather as many mystical defenses as she can and well yeah she’s not really having it. So off her game Robyn didn’t notice Peter follow her to the shoppe and was surprised when he was there to offer his aid. Yes he has his own agenda and we know so little about him but at least she thought about what he was doing here and that’s a good sign.
When Robyn tries to call in help against the Cabal you see how small her circle really is and that’s kind of shame she too much a loner for her own good. Hopefully we’ll be seeing her supporting cast get larger during year two of this run. So when it comes down to it’s simply Robyn and Peter going to the Mesopotamia and meet the Cabal. This surely didn’t go as I had anticipated and kudos to Pat for that. While we see a whole new side to Robyn if Malec hadn’t been there to intervene on her behalf perhaps things would have gone much differently but the Cabal and now the Dark Horde are still very much in play so the real question now is where will this lead to next?
With Robyn’s actions here she’s made herself and Marian stronger targets of the Cabal and they will need to be dealt with and even with a reluctant police officer peripherally aware of what is happening this is going to be a sticky situation. Pat has made this an extremely interesting and intelligent read going far beyond the whole Robyn of Locksley thing and made her incredibly human with a dark prophecy about her and trying to be something better than what’s expected. Can she be a hero we’ll find out but in the meantime this is the new standard for Zenescope’s characters, strong, willful and complex characters whose stories rival anything else you read today.
Then there’s the interior artwork. From the Hazmat suits at the hospital to our cop at her desk to the Mesopotamia itself there is some absolutely gorgeous work being done here. With such attention to detail on both the backgrounds and faces, expressions and the morphing from human to snake like visage at the Mesopotamia you really can appreciate all the hard work that’s gone into this setting the tone and mood of the story extremely well.
This issue was full of surprising turns and that’s what keeps readers coming back for more. This could be the strongest book Zenescope has right now.