Valiant Entertainment 2015
Written by Robert Venditti
Illustrated by Raul Allen & Patricia Martin
Art Assists by David Astruga
Colour Assists by Borja Pindado
Lettered by Patricia Martin
Gilad died protecting the Geomancer and the Earth itself from Master Darque, a powerful practitioner of dark magic. Upon his death, he returned to the afterlife and was greeted by his long deceased wife Leena and the many children he has lost over his centuries of life. Not all of them were happy to see him, including his oldest son, Kalam. Indeed, dark forces are already daring Gilad to attempt his return to the land of the living.
So we open with the real death of Leena, Gilad’s wife and their daughter Dayo. Of course it’s Nubia 1000 B.C. so it’s gorgeously rendered. Though the whole town has succumbed to some mysterious disease that claimed all but Gilad it’s tragic and that he remembers her so well and still loves her as much as he does is so freakin telling. I think this look at Gilad that Robert is giving us and has been giving us is the kind that takes him from constant in the Valiant Universe to among the most beloved members thereof.
That all these children are in what he would consider a paradise state that he visits when recharging after being killed and who technically aren’t his biological children, well not all of them, really goes a long way in defining him. That he feels that those children Geomancers he lost are his children and feels responsible for them the way he does well I gotta say that’s something to admire. Aside from his brutish outward demeanor there’s a heart of gold in this man and that he suffers alone silently like he does well that’s hard to put into words how it makes you feel.
I do like seeing his conversation with kalam too. There’s this whole dynamic there that has such unresolved issues to it. Hell even the brief goodbye has this depth to it that opens up a new realm to explore.
When Gilad decides it’s time to leave and go back to the world of the living we see yet another faction of his life that we haven’t seen before. There’s such a rich dark history to this man that hasn’t been touched upon. There’s a whole new sense of intrigue to his life and his existence that Robert is bringing to the table that just grips the reader in ways that really capture the imagination. A new sense of purpose and a revived mythology to him that keeps creating something unique.
The interior artwork here keeps everything just as fresh, new and interesting as never before. Whether it’s Gilad with his family or fighting the horde to return to the land of the living each part is just this perfect assessment of what he’s going through or feeling at that time. Going from this whole great in detail stuff to lots of negative space keeps things rotating in such a way that as a reader i’m more than a little mesmerized by what I see.
This team on this book staying in this direction could very well catapult it the upper echelon of not only the Valiant Universe but in all of comics as well.