Five issues ago, Gillen introduced us to a group of children who, after sitting down to play a role playing game, disappeared from our universe for a period of two years. When they returned, one member of the group was missing an arm and another was missing altogether. Fast forward a few decades and this group of people are brought together again through circumstances out of their control.  As is normal with many who are childhood friends, this group of people had separated.  Though they were bound by a secret tragedy, they had never talked about it to anyone and had instead taking on the normal and sometimes pedantic lives of common people. Their reunion shatters that reality and propels them back into the world they escaped so many years ago, reappearing in the forms of the teenagers they had been then. Waiting for them is their one-time friend, now calling himself The Grand-Master. It had taken him a while but he had found them, pulling them back into the game he was still playing.
Gillen’s writing on this series continues to impress. On the surface, this is an escapist, adventure, fantasy story with a horror twist. However, Gillen has masterfully woven in any number of sub-plots and commentaries. On the one hand his, writing holds up a mirror to industry and militarization while at the same time commenting on the new age of cyber warfare. At the same time, he has crafted a complex tale where the social interactions of the group are nuanced and their competing interests and points of view are always well represented. Each character has a class which describes them. However, instead of defining them and boxing in the writer, the class is a template that allows for character growth while being guided by a defining characteristic that is true for each character in this role-playing world as well as the ‘real’ one. Not to be outdone, Han’s visuals are outstanding. Each issue in this arc has been beautifully 
This is another fine book in a wonderful series. Gillen and Image plan on taking a hiatus with a trade planned for June and the next story arc not starting until October. In the meantime, I highly encourage you to pick up this book and this series, you won’t be disappointed.
Story – 5 of 5 Stars
Art – 5 of 5 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Writer ”“Â Kieron Gillen
Art ”“ Stephanie Hans
Letters ”“Â Clayton Cowles
Author Profile
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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.
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