Aphrodite IX #1

Writer: Matt Hawkins
Artist: Stjepan Sejic
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Editor: Marc Silvestri, Bryan Rountree and Matt Hawkins
Publisher: Top Cow Productions

On Sale: May 4, 2013
Price: FREE
Format: FC
Genres: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Rated: T+/Teen Plus

Hundreds of years after a cataclysmic event scorched the surface, Earth and its inhabitants have been forever altered and a new landscape and political struggle has taken hold with three distinct factions fighting for control. Aphrodite IX is both anachronism and advanced technology in a world that she no longer recognizes. No aliens, just humans and their genetically and technologically altered descendants in a mixture of the best Sci-Fi and Fantasy has to offer! 

Top Cow is at it again, bringing back a character that I have loved and missed these many years.  This time they are relaunching Aphrodite IX, the perfect green haired assassin and they are doing it as their FREE Comic Book Day offering.  Taking the reins for scripting duties on is Matt Hawkins, writer of Think Tank and President of Top Cow.  To be honest I have been sitting on writing this review for a little while, wanting to be sure that my excitement wasn’t simply because they were bringing back the green haired assassin.  After pondering my reaction and reading the book several times I am certain that although part of my reaction is definitely related to the character, the rest is purely from what this team has rendered in this issue.

Once again Hawkins displays his storytelling skills.  Relaunching a character takes more than just picking up where it left off (or even with day one of the character).  Time has passed, the audience may not be the same, the world must be created/recreated, the characters presented and made to be of interest to the reader and a foundation for the story must be laid. A daunting task, yet Hawkins does just this in this issue, and he does it with finesse.

Add to Hawkins’ storytelling skills, Stjepan Sejic’s artistic talents and you have a blend that is almost supernatural.  Fresh off his artistic duties on Top Cow’s Artifacts, Sejic flexes his artistic talents the relaunch of Aphrodite IX. His skill at rendering supernatural creatures/beings are wonderfully suited to the world Hawkins is crafting and shines as he brings the characters and creatures to life for the reader.  But it doesn’t stop there, there is technology, bright shiny futuristic technology, that is well suited to Sejic’s artistic style.

To have an artist that is capable of bringing both supernatural creatures and futuristic technology so wonderfully to the page is a rare thing especially when paired with the storytelling talents of a writer such as Hawkins.

Final Score: 9/10 for an issue that lays the foundation for the series it is beautifully crafted through word and art.  I look forward to seeing what this duo will bring with future issues.