Review: Lantern City #5 (with Preview)

Lantern City #5

Created by: Trevor Crafts
Co-Creators: Matthew Daley and Bruce Boxleitner
Written by: Matthew Daley, Mairghread Scott
Illustrated by: Carlos Magno
Colors by: Chris Blythe
Letters by: Deron Bennett
Cover by: Benjamin Carre
Publisher: Archaia a Boom! Studios imprint

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 9, 2015

New story arc! After unwittingly saving Emperor Killian Grey’s life, Sander is pulled deeper into the Guard and struggles with Kendal’s mission to kill Grey.

It’s taken a few days to be able to write this review but it had nothing to do with the book. Hard to type when you have an inflamed tendon in your camera hand right before a con and you have to baby it a bit. But enough is enough, I can’t stop thinking about this issue so it is time to write about it.

Lantern City #5 picks right up where issue four left us and what happens when the person you save and recognized removes their mask and introduces themselves. Do you keep quiet or do you reveal who you are? That is where Sander lands after being an unwitting savior of a Grey. And what are the consequences of the decision you make (no I am not going to tell you what Sander decides).

The story gets batter and better with each issue, which considering it started out strong is an amazing thing to see. The writers are building powerful, full-fledged characters, as one would expect of a comic book that is part of a much bigger project. It’s the type of character development one fully would expect of a series that plans to be more than a flash in the pan. As much as I am loving watching these characters come to life page by comic book page, my anticipation of what these characters will be like on screen is growing with each issue.

Carlos’ visuals pull the reader deeper into the story so you can loose track of the pages as you sink into his art woven in with the words of Matthew Daley and Mairghread Scott. If you are anything like GoGeekGirl, you end up looking at the details in his art, investigating the bits and pieces that make it such an intense place. The sparkling towers so visually differentiated from the dirt and grime of the underground. The level of detail in each environment is breathtaking and with where issue five has led I look forward to what he will bring to the panels in Lantern City #6.

If you aren’t reading Lantern City I have but one question for you… why not? You have adventure, intrigue, political upheaval, science fiction and airships. No not planes, not balloons, but real steampunk airships, beautiful ones at that! There is so much hinted at already that we suspect are seeds being laid for future story plot twists and turns that promise a rich full series. The latest announcement regarding casting doesn’t hurt one bit either. Not sure what I am talking about check it out Mira Furlan Makes Her Debut in Lantern City #6. How can we not anticipate great things with an announcement like that?

So again, if you are not already reading Lantern City, GoGeekGirl highly recommends you get caught up. It’s still the early issues of the series so not that much backtracking to do, and well worth the effort to lose yourself in the world that is Lantern City.

We’ve said it before and we will probably say it again, the only thing that would make us happier with this series is having the next issue in our hands now instead of in a few weeks. Well that and if each issue could be longer, though that wouldn’t change our need for the next issue now! Lantern City continues to knock it out of the park with Lantern City #5 coming in with a very solid 10 out of 10 for art, characters, story and simply for managing to surprise us with… oops almost let it slip.