Advance Review: Incursion #3 (of 4)

Gilad is running out of time as Tama, the Geomancer of our Earth, continues to waste away from the necrotic plague she is infected with.Â Â The Imperiatrix Verago and her undead minions are here to conquer the Earth so that Verago may feed on its life energy and thus sustain herself until she can find her next meal.Â Thus the cycle repeats and this is the situation we find ourselves in at the beginning of this book, Incursion #3, by Alex Paknadel (Assassin’s Creed, Dr. Who) and Doug BraithWaite (Shadowpact, Storm Dogs).

In this issue of Incursion, Paknadel puts us in the middle of four different scenarios that are each threads in this tapestry that is coming to conclusion in the next issue of this mini-series.Â The first unfolding scenario involves Gilad, the protector of Earth’s Geomancer, and his quest to find a cure for the disease which is plaguing Tama and in turn The Earth.Â Having fought his way into The Imperiatrix’s inner sanctum, Gilad confronts Syntilla who is responsible for Tama’s infection as well as the necrotic destruction of an untold number of worlds.Â However, in confronting her he realizes that she herself is a slave.Â This realization leads to the second scenario wherein Gilad recalls his time with another Geomancer in the time of ancient Macedonia.Â He recalls the trials and tribulations of that Geomancer and in so doing hopes to convince Syntilla that, like that previous Geomancer, she has been enslaved in her own mind.Â However, some wounds run too deep and this is true of Syntilla as she turns away Gilad.

Meanwhile, in the throne room of the Imperiatrix we are treated to a glimpse of Verago in her natural habitat.Â It was striking to see her as frail, desperate for her next meal, as she must simultaneously rule over this collection of the conquered undead.Â However, she commands the loyalty of her minions, for now, and I wonder what might happen in the future if she continues to be denied the sustenance which in turn provides her power.Â Finally, we are treated with a variety of vignettes that show the real world effects on the Earth that the Geomancer’s sickness has wrought.Â Crops have failed, the weather has been upset and gangs of new undead roam the world looking for the Geomancer herself.

All this then ties together into a book that is transitory, moving us past the questing phase of Gilad’s journey and into the final confrontation phase of Incursion.Â Paknadel has done some interesting character work with Syntella in this issue.Â She is the Incursion equivalent of a battered wife or abused child.Â Desperate for love and acceptance after realizing what she had done to her own planet, the Imperiatrix has a hold on her that is powerful and appears to be unbreakable.Â Likewise, Gilad displays a caring and empathetic side in his flashback to Ancient Macedonia.Â Transitory books can be tough, and minus one brief bit of action featuring Gilad, there is not a whole lot action in this issue.Â However, the hard work done here tying together plot threads and further fleshing out characters is sure to bear fruits in the final issue of this series.

As in the previous issue I reviewed, the artwork in this book is excellent.Â The pencils are wonderfully done, once again, and the inking and shading lends itself to powerful visuals.Â However, once more, the color of this book is the star of the show.Â The color in this book is expertly done and the visuals associated with magic and technology are radiant and draw dropping.Â With regularity, the issues in this series have been drawn and colored with artistic flair and each book has been a pleasure just to look at.

This is another fine installment in this mini-series and I hope that people who have not read the first two issues go back and find those after picking up this book.Â I can’t recommend this book highly enough and while my writing score is slightly lower than last time because of the transitory nature of the story, it is not an indictment of the book itself.Â This is an incredible book and an important one in this wonderful mini-series in the Valiant Universe.

Writing – 4 of 5 Stars
Pencils – 4 of 5 Stars
Inking – 4.5 of 5 Stars
Color – 5 of 5 Stars

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Writing ”“ Alex Paknadel
Art ”“ Doug BraithWaite
Color ”“ Diego Rodriguez
Letters ”“ Marshall Dillon

Author Profile

Nemesis

Nemesis is a poet, writer and author of the upcoming novel The Long Game. He is a writer of science fiction and supernatural thrillers. Besides novels and short stories he writes for UK based ASAP Comics developing new stories for Level 8 and OPSEC. Nem is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and tries to bring those experiences into his writing.

He lives and works out of his home in Riverside, California with his wife and three children. When not writing he enjoys reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ComicCrusaders.com and living the Southern California life with his family.