41. Eternal Warrior vol 2 #1 to 4

When Valiant first came to prominence 2 decades ago with its stable of titles, I will be the first to admit that I paid it no heed because Image was knocking everyone aside thanks to their stable of flashy artists and over-the-top posing. Sorry mates but that's the truth

After all the hub-bub has died down, after Valiant folded, then only did I started picking up Solar and subsequently sampled here and there Turok, Eternal Warrior, Archer and Armstrong and Harbinger. Eternal Warrior then didn't enthralled me and I didn't follow up on the back issues unlike Solar

But when this came out in TPB, the cover looked violently interesting that I plunked down the money, took the book to a local coffee chain and read it ... cover to cover ... it is that good

Gilad Anni Padda - if you do not know his past, it doesn't matter. If you do not know the current launch of the sister titles, it doesn't matter. All you need to know is that this chap is a Sumerian from man's prehistoric times. We see the opening sequence where he has aligned himself with the Geomancers of Earth, a special individual each generation whose gift is to communicate with the spirit of our world. He is its Fist and Steel ... which means he kills to maintain whatever the Earth dictates and killing is what he loves ... until one day, we see in flashback, he harbours 2 children, a boy and a girl

Although both are killers like him, the boy understands the importance of life while the girl, with her own opinions, believe in ends justifying the means and in one bloody combat (SPOILERS) kills her own brother deliberately so that he cannot slow her down in exterminating the entire opposition. With that, Gilad has had enough and disappears

Cue the present and said daughter hunts him down because something is coming for all of them and it is the spirit of many of the world's different embodiment. But is Gilad interested in rejoining the fold? And where does his daughter's true loyalty lies? And is there really a spirit or spirit gods or have they all been fighting for nonsensical justification?

Violence, gore and more abound in each issue and it ROCKS! I wished though they had gotten a different artist. Sorry, the current artist does a good job but his style is just not my taste

Ratings: 7/10