Imperium #11 has the Vine Plantings commencing their attack on Harada while he takes his once-a-month 24 hour slumber. This time period is a trying one for the Foundation because instead of countries opposing it they’ve decided to ship thousands of refugees and poor people there to reduce the populations in their own countries. This has led to a resource drain on the Foundation Zone with many of the refugees requiring medical care in addition to the daily necessities. This has led to one like GraveDog questioning Harada’s strategy with his attacks due to the belief it just led to more destabilization, and as a result, more refugees. So at the daily briefing when Harada informs his team that he’ll be taking this 24 hour slumber it only leads to each member taking a harder stance about how to deal with the current situation with the refugees. Meanwhile, Sasha informs the Vine that it’s been confirmed that Harada has entered his slumber and that now’s the time for them to attack. Their plan is to use LV-99 to kill Harada since once almost killed him decades ago. Can the Vine Plantings succeed now where they failed years ago? And will the Foundation Zone falter during Harada’s rest?

I found Harada being required to enter a psiot-dampening chamber interesting, and of course that made the Vine plantings plan of attack feel more intense and suspenseful. And this even made me more curious about Harada’s limitations. I wasn’t initially feeling LV-99 being the plantings’ vaunted assassin considering its capabilities but the story relayed by Tess Solomon about the closest the Vine ever came to killing Harada made it more compelling. I was at the edge of my seat reading this flashback of LV-99’s predecessor coming so close to killing Harada due to Tess’s plan and the way it unfolded. Yeah it was another flashback story but it was much better than last issue’s flashback and actually created some exciting questions that will most likely be answered in this story arc.

Thankfully this issue wasn’t just about flashbacks and the current plan to kill Harada would unfold with Sasha and LV-99 taking on Harada’s forces. I don’t know what’s in store for Sasha going forward but I was impressed with her portrayal here. She was competent, effective and brutal in her own way during the action sequences. And LV-99 came off better this issue than in any other issue he’s appeared. And I won’t give away any spoilers but considering everything going on I did wish that Angela’s role and end game was clarified a little more because even though what was revealed this issue was intriguing I wondered how much it would truly impact this current story arc. However, this issue overall added to what has made this series so engrossing, and I’m satisfied with that.

SUMMARY

Imperium #11 is a solid issue that raises the stature of the Vine plantings through the use of an intense flashback story and the current timing of Harada’s 24-hour slumber. Out of all of the characters in this series LV-99 has been the least interesting but this issue makes him more fascinating with the help of Sasha. I’m not sure how Angela factors into this current situation other than knowing why she supports Harada but hopefully it’ll become clearer down the line. However, this issue continues the wonderful trend of addressing complex factors in an entertaining manner, and this is part of why I thoroughly enjoy this series.

Release Date: 12/16/15

Writer: Joshua Dysart

Artist: CAFU, Juan Jose Ryp