Gilad Anni-Padda is the protector of Earth and the mystical Geomancers. For centuries upon centuries, he has lived and died, lived and died, an immortal, eternal warrior. During the last 6,000 years, he has amassed an amazing amount of knowledge and strength. During his last death, he saw his long-dead wife and children; but his duties called him to fight Death’s devils and return to Earth to fight whatever evils are now thrown in his way.
This comic, Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #7 is called Labyrinth Part 1. When Gilad wakes up from his death, he finds himself in an unbreakable glass prison. Not knowing where he is, he grows mad. Turns out, there is a man who has lived just as long as Gilad, one whose name was not identified, but appears to be an old man with eyes of mismatched color, and he is the one who has, after all these years, finally imprisoned the eternal warrior, and he witnesses his wrath.
All these years, this mysterious man has killed many men in forcing them to build an underground obstacle maze of sorts, just for Gilad to get through. This will, he believes, reveal the secrets of Gilad’s immortality.
Thus is the storyline of Labyrinth Part 1. I loved this comic. First off, I don’t know why, but I have never heard of an eternal warrior being an immortal protector of the Earth, and I thought this was very unique. Another thing that stood out was the weight of the story and the drama. Gilad has finally been caught by someone we don’t know, and there is hardly any violence or gruesome scenes at all. The beginning shows this mysterious man (whatever his name is) and we see his vile and heartless acts. Who is this guy, one who has lived so long before the advances in science and technology, which can finally give him Gilad in a locked chamber? So far, he is my favorite character … but of course; he is mysterious.
Towards the end, Gilad is set out into the Labyrinth. The people who are monitoring his physical state during the six hours of running through it, marvel at his calm heart rate and respirations … until the “robots” are fired at him. Somehow, these “robots,” execute certain incisions into the victim, and the mysterious old man is triumphant; finally, he will know the secrets of Gilad’s immortality! And the comic stops there.
The art was as expected, but there was enough skill to make us imagine the pictures of each panel as a shot in a movie … which I still think is very genius about these comics; they act almost like a movie’s storyboard. Each square of drawing (what are those called, anyway?) give us as much information as possible, and the transition and layout of these pictures were very creative.
This comic was short, with 22 pages, and the ending was quite the cliffhanger (so much so that I kept swiping on the screen for just one more page!). The characters were complex and intriguing, though they were few, and the story was compelling and unique. I look forward to reading the 8th issue, Labyrinth Part 2. So far, this is the best superhero comic I’ve read, and the story is such that I can just imagine it as a feature film, if it were expanded on.
What are your thoughts? Have you yet read any Wrath of the Eternal Warrior comics? What do you think of this one? Don’t forget to leave a comment below and share around.
This copy was supplied by Valiant Comics. All thoughts are my own.
