Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #9

Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #8

Written by: Robert Venditti


Art by: Raul Allen and Patricia Martin

Published by Valiant Comics

In this issue Gilad, the Eternal Warrior fights his way towards his enemy who has been plotting his doom in his labyrinth for thousands of years. Will our hero overcome the odds to get one step closer to the man behind his current predicament. I won't answer that, I'd hate to spoil any comic, but I promise you as with every issue of this series we get lots of action, and lots of blood. We also briefly journey back into the Eternal Warrior's afterlife where his first son Kalam seems to have vanished.

Venditti's take on the Eternal Warrior has been chugging a long nicely after a slow start. I've enjoyed the Labyrinth story so far, but it does feel a little like it's starting to drag. It's not bad or anything. It's a good story, but can we get some more story beats? It's been three issues now and we still have get to get movement. There's loads of action, really good action, and some of the little details, such as whatever is going on with the Eternal Warrior's missing son and the identity of the enemy. Which reminds me of something else that bothered me about the book. The mystery voice taunting Gilad, that we know is an immortal, but he doesn't, when he mentions that he's been plotting his revenge for a millennia, the Eternal Warrior doesn't question this? He doesn't even seem surprised. A minor point but still weird. These complaints are minor really, it was a good book, it's just I want more story.

The art does the heavy lifting. This book is always full of beautifully drawn violence, and I love it. There were a couple little panels I didn't like with some odd facial features, but everything else was fantastic. As with the last issue I really love the way death is rendered in a sort of negative image, it looks awesome. The other major bit of art I want to point out is the two page splash page of the Eternal Warrior in the broken camera lens, it looks great and was one of my favourite parts of the book.

It's a good book and I'm enjoying this take on the Eternal Warrior. I'm willing to give Venditti a chance to grow into the book. It's just we seem to be taking forever to get from point a to point b. I recommend reading the book but wait for the trade.