Review: Book of Death #3

Book of Death #3
Written by Robert Venditti
Art by Robert Gill with Doug Braithwaite
Colors by David Baron and Brian Reber
Published by Valiant Entertainment LLC.

Brace yourselves Crusaders, as Tama, Earth’s spiritual conduit from the future, shares with us yet another prophetic excerpt from the cryptic Book of the Geomancers:

In an effort to try and understand the future, you must familiarize yourself with the past, and hope that any knowledge you gain from it can be applied during the present.

The honor is mine in keeping you as well-informed as I possibly can. Before you read any further, feel free to click on any, or all, of the links below for specifics on what has transpired:

The Valiant #4 – https://www.comiccrusaders.com/review-the-valiant-4/

Book of Death #1 – https://www.comiccrusaders.com/review-book-of-death-1/

Book of Death #2 – https://www.comiccrusaders.com/review-book-of-death-2/

Issue three of the Book of Death, opens with”¦well”¦the beginning”¦the commencement of Master Darque’s devious machinations that resulted in the capture of the latest Geomancer, known as David. Master Darque’s objectives are elucidated: manipulate and utterly corrupt the fragile youth’s mystical abilities towards identifying and eradicating any potential threat that could halt the realization of a calamitous future. Of course, augmenting his own power in the process would suit Master Darque just fine.

With the Unity team recovering from their epic and humiliating defeat at the hands of The Eternal Warrior (in Book of Death #2), Gilad Anni-Padda takes advantage of the temporary respite and goes further into hiding alongside the future Geomancer, Tama. Together, they realize a more proactive approach would serve them best if they intend on ending the acts of the “Corrupted One”; however, how they do just that will be another matter entirely, especially when they have access to knowledge of the impending future.

Robert Venditti continues to provide a very concrete and autonomous script that by far makes the Book of Death series THE event to collect and read this year. How so? That’s easy to answer. The plot itself is uncomplicated and yet highly entertaining. You honestly don’t need in-depth knowledge of the Valiant Universe if this marks the first time any of the Book of Death issues has made its way into your humble abode. However, if you are a Valianteer (my newly invented name for die-hard Valiant fans), you will come to appreciate the long overdue character development, or upgrade if you will, of the Eternal Warrior (read Book of Death issue #2). You will also develop a newfound respect for Master Darque after reading this issue. Until now, I considered Master Darque to be a no-frills conjurer from the Shadowman books who had a name so dull, that if spoken aloud, it wouldn’t even scare the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz. Well, not anymore.

Successfully turning a D-list character into an outright terrifying global threat for any comic book universe is quite an accomplishment in my opinion. The artistic team certainly helped with that, no doubt about it. Their sensational collaboration made this issue truly live up to the title of this book. For nearly the entire issue, the artwork effectively conveyed the purest of emotions such as hate, fear, rage, sorrow and hope. The apocalyptic design of the future Master Darque truly stood out in this issue. The opaque setting of a lifeless world that has yet to arrive will leave long-lasting impressions of a looming and seemingly irreversible doom upon the reader’s mind.

In closing, this is a great series to invest in. However, with only one issue left to go, one can’t help but feel that this particular story will pave the way for another event. Is that such a bad thing? No”¦not at all!

Until next time Crusaders!

[yasr_overall_rating]

Author Profile

13th Crusader

Real Name: Mike / Occupation: (As Mike) Classified; (as The 13th Crusader) Host of The Definitive Crusade, DC Podcast, for Undercover Capes / Known Aliases: 13, The Iron Mike, Ironhide, The Walking Human Encyclopedia, Professor M / Affiliations: Comic Crusaders / Base of Operations: The 13th Lair (location classified), often mobile / Abilities: Photographic memory (to the extent where he is capable of memorizing the comic book inventories of several stores simultaneously for lengthy periods of time), voice impersonation, acute senses (The 13th Crusader possesses an uncanny ability to track down vintage comic books, and on several occasions, with his eyes closed, he has been able to determine the exact year a comic book was published just by smelling the ink inside of it), capable of drawing sketches; however, he prefers to write. He has a substantial amount of resistance to alcohol, surpassing the levels displayed by Marvelâ€™s Volstagg and Valiantâ€™s Aram Anni-Padda â€“ combined. Multilingual (Proficient with English and Spanish, adequate with Portuguese and Italian). Above average marksman (he is capable of throwing objects accurately at high velocities), limited sword fighting skills and kickboxing techniques. / Known Weaknesses: Anything that involves the original Gwen Stacy, 2 for 1 drinks during Happy Hour, 50 cent comic book bins, the scent of 1983 comic book ink / Hobbies: Vintage comic book collecting, baseball, listening to excessive amounts of 80â€™s music / History: Little is known of The 13th Crusader. He is a man of many talents who was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He has extensive knowledge of the comic book world and heâ€™s been collecting comic books since before he was able to read. Heâ€™s a BIG time fan of Silver and Bronze Age comics, and as such, his personal collection is truly impressive. He owns books that range from the 1950â€™s and onward. First Appearance: Comic Crusaders Column â€“ What Defines A Characters First Appearance (Feb 2014)