There have been many titles that I have enjoyed with Valiant’s rebirth, but there was one that was missing. One that I had fond memories of and wanted to read again. Thankfully, Valiant has decided to fill that void and the Eternal Warrior is once more on the comic shelves as a monthly series.
One of the things I enjoyed about the original Eternal Warrior run, back in the 90′s, was that it took you on grand adventures across time. With a character who has lived as long as Gilad Anni-Padda, there are many, many stories to tell. This first issue takes us to ancient Mesopotamia so I’m going to guess that jumping timelines will be a strong story telling device in this new series too. Gilad has been making his way through many of the other Valiant books recently, including Archer & Armstrong, which stars his brother Aram. So, if you read any other Valiant titles you are probably somewhat familiar with him by now.
Greg Pak does a pretty good job with jumping us right into the action. He lays the groundwork for what we need to know about Gilad; he’s a warrior, he’s immortal, he fights for the Earth. Most of this issue deals with Gilad and his children. In fact, the narrator for most of this story is his daughter, Xaran. It ends with a shocking revelation that certainly makes you want to know what comes next.
Trevor Hairsine handles art duty and he brings a gritty style to this issue. I felt the art was proper for this particular story, but I had some trouble seperating some characters. Everybody gets lost in the action and it took me a few extra glances to realize who was doing what at times. Other than that, the art is pretty solid. I really like the change in the look as we move from the past to present day. The colors change drastically and it works really well.
I’m thrilled to have Eternal Warrior back as a monthly and I think this issue is a good start. I look forward to seeing where Pak takes us and how well he does in handling all the different facets to this great character.
