REVIEW: Eternal Warrior Days of Steel #2

Written by PETER MILLIGAN
Art by CARY NORD
Cover by LEWIS LAROSA
Variant Cover by RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE
$3.99 | 32 pages. | T+ | On sale DECEMBER 3

Gilad“s fight against the Magyar“s takes an interesting turn in this issue, forced into a choice by the Geomancer that could turn the tide of the war, what if he is wrong and what effect will this have on history?

The Eternal Warrior is rife for stories delving into his past adventures being immortal and Milligan delivers some really strong character moments showing us how Gilad has come to be the person we all know and love kicking ass in the Unity squad. The main theme of this issue is one of self-doubt, what if he made the wrong choice? Can he go back and undo it? How will this affect the future and the Geomancers grand plan? Some of these questions are answered in this issue providing a great second act to this mini-series that sets up a conclusion that has plenty of places to go. The focus on self-doubt however, humanizes the Gilad allowing us to empathise with him more and understand to some extent the trails that he is currently facing, and allowing you to become invested in this war and Gilad“s part in it.

My only issue with this book comes from the fact that it feels a little compressed, as it only has 1 issue remaining I am struggling to see how this story will be able to come to natural conclusion, this issue feels a little rushed and whilst a lot of time passes, and focus is shifted onto the other characters in this story not much is done to advance the plot. I may be wrong in my thinking (and I hope that I am) but, I feel that it is worth mentioning.

The art team of Cary Nord and Brian Reber have what I would call the traditional modern style of artwork, Nord“s pencils are really detailed and the world around Gilad completely immersive. The fight scenes jump off the page Nord works so much motion and brutality in each of them that you get the feeling that Gilad is not fighting with finesse, instead planting both feet and swinging that axe until everything around him stops moving. Reber“s colours complement Nord“s pencils really well, using a style that makes each page look like it was painted with watercolours allowing Nord“s detailed pencil work to shine through, especially with characters faces and facial expressions that look almost realistic.

Eternal Warrior Days of Steel is another great entry into the Valiant mythos, adding more depth to one of its main heroes and exploring a side of him that has not been seen previously and also and perhaps more importantly humanising him. Whilst my issues with the amount of issues that this story has been given I am really interested to see where this story goes and what the outcome will be and how this will effect GIlad.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

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!