Writer: Robert Place Napton
Artist: Zid
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Editor: Bryan Rountree & Matt Hawkins
Publisher: Image Comics, Inc.
On Sale: May 1, 2013
Price: $2.99
Format: Full Color
Rated: T+/Teen Plus
OSCAILT AMACH!
Morgana has found the brilliant M.I.T. professor and heir to Merlin’s magic, Dr. Simon Ambrose, and will stop at nothing to seize Merlin’s power from his grasp. Simon, however, is untrained in magic and until he is better versed in casting Druid spells, he will need to rely on the safeguards Merlin planned in advance for him to flee Morgana’s wrath. But will it be enough?
Hard to believe we are already up to issue 4 of 5. Harder still to believe that this series will truly end after only 5 issues. Sincerely am finding myself wishing that Merlin will come from the past and cast a spell resulting in a continuation in this series.
It’s been awhile since I have seen a fresh take on any of the Merlin tales, and to come up with a modern day Son of Merlin take on the tale has been a breath of fresh air in an otherwise ancient legend.
Napton keeps the tale moving at a reasonable pace, allowing the characters some time to develop and grow without getting bogged down while accomplishing this growth. One scene in this issue could have become a corner that was hard to write out of, yet Napton comes up with a solution that gives the characters an out without making it seem implausible that the situation would be resolved in the manner presented. [wow it can be hard to avoid spoilers at times this one was tricky]
The cover to this issue was simply stunning. Quite possibly the best cover in this series. While much of Zid’s art in this issue still impressed me, there were some pages that just seemed muddy. Not sure if this was by intent or not, I can only say that those were the pages I was very grateful I didn’t have to tell all of what was occurring simply from the art. Don’t get me wrong, overall the art in the book is still amazing, there were just some pages that to me were a let down as it felt as though I was struggling identifying who was who and what was occurring. For a visual medium this is not a positive thing to experience.
After everything is said and done, I still wish that Merlin would cast a spell extending this series beyond the initial five issues.
Final Score: 8/10
