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Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #2
Kareem Ali 4

Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #2

 

  • The good

    Engrossing backstory and explanation of structure of the afterlife in regards to Gilad's family and spending time with them. Path to return has some depth to it

  • The bad

    Overall story arc still isn't pointing to more than Gilad's path to return but no hint of his family's context going forward.

  • The ugly

  • Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #2 continues with Gilad making his way through the worst depths of the afterlife in order to return to the land of the living. It opens up in Nubia in 1000 BC with Gilad watching over his sick wife Leena. Leena asks him how their daughter is doing and Gilad tells her that their daughter somehow became healthy again as if it was a miracle. He tells Leena that the plague ravaging their village won’t claim their daughter. Gilad gives Leena one final kiss before she dies from the illness and he takes her body and moves it to where the bodies of all the villagers are waiting to be burned with Gilad being the lone survivor. However, Gilad has been reunited with his family many times in the afterlife but only gets to spend so much time with them. He gets to spend time with Leena and play with his children but he knows he can’t stay there forever. He’s the one who has to protect the Earth and the Geomancers, and even though the Earth would let him rest this time Gilad knows he can’t leave the other heroes to fight alone. But can he truly make a difference in the world as he believes or should he remain with his family in the afterlife?

    Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #2

    I felt the first issue was a great start to the series and created an intriguing situation for Gilad while increasing the understanding of how his immortality actually worked. It was clear that last issue wasn’t some type of dream and was about Gilad spending time with his family in the afterlife somehow. Although it wasn’t clear exactly how he had a family and the circumstances of them existing in the form they did. This issue addressed that right off the bat by showing the touching scene with Gilad in his village with Leena in 1000 BC and then the subsequent conversations throughout.

     

    I did wonder how this afterlife could be a form of paradise for Gilad’s kids considering they were stuck as his kids forever waiting for him to keep returning but the conversation between Gilad and his son Kalam shed light on that. So once again Gilad’s backstory with his family was compelling and I really felt the emotions involved when he stated he had to return to the land of the living. All of it made me think that if this series delved into it more somehow in the land of the living or dead it could make for interesting story arcs. However, the focus would shift to Gilad attempting to return to the living so I’m hoping they don’t just become an afterthought going forward.

    Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #2
    And that’s because there was no turning back on the path once Gilad set off to return to the land of the living. It wasn’t just the sheer number of enemies he had to cut through but Gilad’s mentality. Last issue I felt the demon horde was very generic, and even though that didn’t change much here the significance of Gilad cutting through them to move forward on his path carried more weight. And thankfully the antagonist behind the scenes seemed to be more interesting and hinted at a more complicated process for Gilad to return than previously assumed.

     

    So my major problem with this issue was it didn’t give a better sense of the direction of the overall story arc. It didn’t seem to be solely about Gilad struggling to leave his family and the demon horde opposing him has been unimpressive so that struggle wasn’t riveting. Granted this was only the second issue so I’m hoping things pick up next issue in terms of story progression.

     

    SUMMARY

    Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #2 is a touching issue that sheds more light on Gilad’s family and his past while detailing what he goes through every time he’s resurrected. Many questions are answered pertaining to his family being with him in the afterlife and I believe there are some potential story lines there down the line. The generic horde still feels the same but the action is a little more intense and the main demon is slightly intriguing. I’m not sure if this story arc will just result in Gilad returning to Earth or if some elements in the afterlife will be explored further but I’m hoping next issue will give more clarification regarding the direction. However, I’m still enjoying this series so far.

     

    Release Date: 12/16/15

    Writer: Robert Venditti

    Artist: Raul Allen

  • Rating ( 8.25 )
  • Total score 8.3

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