Writer: Matt Hawkins
Artist: Stjepan Sejic
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Editor: Bryan Rountree and Matt Hawkins
Publisher: Top Cow Productions
On Sale: June 12, 2013
Price: $2.99
Format: FC
Genres: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Rated: T+/Teen Plus
TOP COW’S HOTTEST CYBORG ASSASSIN RETURNS IN HER OWN SERIES!
Straight out of her Free Comic Book Day first issue debut, the saga of the cyborg assassin Aphrodite IX continues in her first original series in over a decade! Writer MATT HAWKINS (THINK TANK) and artist STJEPAN SEJIC (RAVINE, ARTIFACTS) take you to a dystopian future where technology and evolution have merged and a cyborg killer searching for meaning is the most human individual left!
If you haven’t read Aphrodite IX #1 yet, don’t worry you can pick up the 2nd printing on June 12 at the same time you pick up issue 2.
Oh wait, I haven’t told you why you will want to be sure to pick up issue 2.
Sexy green haired Assassin, technology, dragons and drones, intrigue, love (triangle), murder and the resulting mayhem. Just a few of the things that you will come across between the covers of this issue.
In all seriousness though, Matt Hawkins continues to impress with his story telling prowess. Though Aphrodite IX is dramatically different from his other current book, Think Tank, what they have in common is his character development. He gives the reader a reason to care what happens to the characters, a true sign of a story that is being properly developed. The story, while occurring in different areas within the world, it is balanced in such a way that the reader is not left wondering where they are.
From the stunning cover to the cover to the dramatic final pages of this issue it is obvious that Stjepan Sejic was definitely the perfect choice of artists for this book. The man brings high tech and fantasy creatures both to life, often in the same scenes, with out them seeming improbable. I have yet to decide which I prefer, his images of the technology or the dragons are my favorite. Guess I will just have to keep picking up this book while I try to decide.
Then there is the aspect of a book that we rarely speak us, unless it is done poorly, the lettering. Troy Peteri does a phenomenal job of differentiating which mode of Aphrodite is speaking, whether it is verbal or the internal dialogues. That is four different possibilities for one character, yet there is never any doubt which voice the words represent. If I wasn’t impressed before with his work I would be now.
Oh did I mention the science pages at the end of the book? Something that Hawkins does in Think Tank, he’s added to Aphrodite IX. In Hawkins’ own words:
The point of it is to share the research behind the story and, since most of the science in that book is real, it’s easy to source and discuss. In Aphrodite, it’s a dystopian, post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi/Fantasy with more fiction and less science. I do research for this book as well, however, and thought I would share some of the futurist ideas incorporated.
While he hasn’t explained the genetic engineering that brought about the dragons (yet) he does give the reader food for thought within these pages while also making some of what might seem to be a wild stretch of the imagination some grounding in science that is already occurring around us now.
The team of Hawkins, Sejic and Peteri are a perfect formula for a tale that is both fantasy and science, mystery and drama. They are laying a wonderful foundation for this series and I look forward to future issues to see just where they take Aphrodite IX and her world.
Final Score: 9/10
