REVIEW: Elena Divinity Rising

Writer: Darren Pearce
Artist: Stuart Jennett
Format: 128 pages Full Colour

From creators Darren Pearce and Stuart Jennet comes new spy thriller Elena Divinity Rising, buried in a world of betrayal and espionage Elena Anchova, an extraordinary girl forced to grow up in an extraordinary world where everyone wants unlock her unique abilities for their own ends.

Dropping us in mid mission we see Elena and her CIA counterparts tracking the YURI organisation, the mission however begins to go awry and soon Elena and her counterparts are forced into a confrontation none of them seem fully prepared and a threat that is even graver than they realise. Pearce builds this world out really well in this first issue, introducing us slowly to the main cast of characters allowing their personalities to shine through. Pearce also focus“ on making the characters relatable by filling in their backstory in small pieces throughout the story allowing us to see just how these characters got to where they are and what makes them just strong characters.

Particular praise must be paid to how Pearce and Jennet have bought Elena to life, much in the vein of characters of the ilk of Carol Danvers as the new Captain Marvel, Elena is a fully realised character that is not over sexualised and allows her strength of character to shine through. She is tough, independent and capable of holding her own, yet also in touch with her emotions and this allows the reader to empathise with her greatly.

Jennet providing the art shows a great range of his artistic abilities in this book switching deftly from a noir style for the flashbacks and the more traditional modern day setting. His art has a much cleaner Alex Maleev like quality to it, looking detailed yet also having a sketchy quality to it that fits for this high espionage tale really well. Elena“s design is also quite intriguing, as she is clearly working as a spy/superhero she really stands out and this really does juxta position her from the world around her.

Elena Divinity Rising is a great first issue, introducing us to the world and its rules whilst setting up an intriguing story that has plenty of places to go and I am looking forward to seeing what the second issue holds for us.

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Elena:Divinity Rising issue 1, available now to download via Comixology @Â tinyurl.com/o4dpy4jÂ

Follow them on Twitter:Â @ElenaAnchova

Author Profile

Matt Deery

Matt Deery is an avid comic reader from the UK, relatively new to the writing scene but, enjoying being part of the Comic Crusaders team and getting to talk about some the books that I adore. Will read almost anything Marvel, with Spider-Man and Iron Man being my all time favorite comic book characters and has recently found a love for Image and Valiant books and generally anything Sci FI or Espionage related. Check out my twitter @brujah69ad if you want to stop by and talk comics, video games or movies!