Ron Marz, Phil Hester, (Writers) Stjepan Sejic, Lee Moder, Ryan Sook, (Artists) Larry Molinar, and Dave McCaig (Colors)
The Top Cow event known as First Born was one of the more exciting events in recent memory. A classic story of good and evil that was really cast in all shades of gray, First Born impressed with some incredible artwork by Stjepan Sejic and an epic feel. With Sara Pezzini’s child at stake, the forces of light and darkness brought the eternal war to our world in an attempt to gain control the Witchblade wielder’s daughter. The trade is definitely worth the pick up if you are a fan of the characters and it also serves as a decent, action-packed jumping on point for those curious about the Top Cow Universe. With First Born: Aftermath, a one-shot consisting of three short stories, fans can get some idea of where the characters are headed in the future. Since each story really is a stand alone tale, I will give each a short review before giving my overall thoughts.
The first story, “Stragglers,” is quite short but effective thanks to the artwork by Stjepan Sejic. Basically, the gist of the story is that some teens head down into the hole where the main battle of the First Born event took place and are being watched by some of Jackie Estacado’s Darklings. There really isn’t a lot to say about such a simple story, but Ron Marz has some fun with the dialogue and Sejic creates a couple of really impressive looking scenes.
The second story, “Armies of the Night,” is written by the Darkness’ Phil Hester and tells of some Darklings that stumble upon a statue of an ancient ruler who holds a bit of a grudge against the Darkness. We get a brief history lesson on who the ruler was and how his encounter with the Darkness changed his life forever. The writing is both darkly humorous at times, but has a nice dramatic weight overall. A good outing by Phil Hester with this story. The artwork by Lee Moder is serviceable, but I wish it had a more serious look that reflects the story being told. Everything looked too much like a cartoon. Still a fun read though and, again, the art does the job well enough.
The final story, “Faith,” is also by Ron Marz and tells about the Magdalena. She faces off with an “angel” of light and finds herself struggling with her place in the world. The writing is strong and it also gives some nice direction for a character that shows up from time to time throughout the Top Cow universe. Ryan Sook’s artwork is solid, especially some of the facial expressions, and the color work is very well done. A good closing story for this one-shot.
First Born: Aftermath is really for those that follow the Top Cow Universe. While the stories could be enjoyed on their own well enough, it helps to have some experience with the characters and story elements. If you recently came aboard with Witchblade or The Darkness, two series that recently developed new jump-on points, check this out for some idea as to what direction those particular stories will be taking. A fun, solid read all around that hints at future plot elements for those interested.
Grade: C+
-Kyle Posluszny
Filed under: Image Comics, Reviews, Top Cow | Tagged: Darklings, Dave McCaig, First Born, First Born: Aftermath, First Born: Aftermath #1, Image Comics, Larry Molinar, Lee Moder, Magdalena, Phil Hester, Reviews, Ron Marz, Ryan Sook, Stjepan Sejic, The Darkness, Top Cow, Witchblade | 1 Comment »
Ron Marz
I bought this comic hoping that I would get a decent rip-off of Top Cow’s Magdalena and I wasn’t disappointed with that in mind. The story is about a group of specially trained nuns from the Order of the Holy Sepulcher whom perform exorcisms. The twist to this is that these nuns don’t kill the demons they exorcise – but instead absorb the demons, thus becoming part of their souls, imprisoning them, if you will.
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