Wrath of The Eternal Warrior #1 Discussion

[Brapbrap]

What did everyone think?

I'm not sold yet, all this issue did was make me wish that Raul Allen had drawn Book of Death.

I dont really like how heavily Fred van Lente's take on Eternal Warrior has been retconned, so many aspects of his EW / Geomancer arc have been written over by other people.

[Keith]

Good start... lots of set up, but definitely intrigued to see where Gilad is and how he gets out.

I dont really like how heavily Fred van Lente's take on Eternal Warrior has been retconned, so many aspects of his EW / Geomancer arc have been written over by other people.

Which part is this issue retconning?

[Brapbrap]

we saw what happens when the eternal warrior dies in archer and armstrong, but in this series he supposedly always gets transported to this weird realm when he dies since everyone here already knows him

[jeremycoe]

I'm interested to see where Venditti takes this. I thought it was a good first issue.

[BugsySig]

It was hardly the epic we have been promised. It might get there eventually, but this read very fast and gave us very little.

Great art, though.

[ChiptheRipper]

So Gilad's entire day consisted of eating a huge meal, having sex, and then going right back to bed? He really is in paradise

Seriously though, I thought it was good. Definitely a build up issue, but I get the feeling we may see the Immortal Enemy at some point

[omega_override]

Given how overhyped it was, I expected it to be a little bit better than what we ended up with. It wasn't exactly a bad start, but a little confusing in regards to what was going on

[jmatt]

I enjoyed the book. It's a good setup issue.

They are obviously tinkering heavily with the concept of the Eternal Warrior, working in not just a new backstory but the entire predicate of the character. I don't mind actually. We really don't know much about his 'eternalness' so I welcome an interesting vector that fleshes it out.

I'm assuming the 'he's died many times' part is new, no? We've seen him die once in AA before he was immortal or even the guardian of the Geomancers. And most recently in the lead up to this story in BoD. But no others, amirite?

3.8/5

[Phoenix8008]

I enjoyed the book. It's a good setup issue.

They are obviously tinkering heavily with the concept of the Eternal Warrior, working in not just a new backstory but the entire predicate of the character. I don't mind actually. We really don't know much about his 'eternalness' so I welcome an interesting vector that fleshes it out.

I'm assuming the 'he's died many times' part is new, no? We've seen him die once in AA before he was immortal or even the guardian of the Geomancers. And most recently in the lead up to this story in BoD. But no others, amirite?

3.8/5

He died in A&A #9 when Archer (while possessed by the first Immortal Enemy math algorithm thingy) shot him and exploded him to death and blew his arm off. He crawls out of the hole and tells Armstrong that "the Earth won't let me die". Before that in the issue, it shows him in 1963 getting shot through the forehead and he actually appears before 'Mother Earth' and she tells him she can't let him go onto death yet. I think they're just splitting hairs now to change it from 'the Earth won't let him die' to 'the Earth won't let him STAY dead'.

I'm pretty sure anytime he's taken enough damage that he 'should have' died, he actually did die, though very briefly before being brought back. Maybe his vacations in his little 'paradise in hell' seem like hours or days to him, but then they become only short moments gone by once he's back.

[jmatt]

He died in A&A #9 when Archer (while possessed by the first Immortal Enemy math algorithm thingy) shot him and exploded him to death and blew his arm off. He crawls out of the hole and tells Armstrong that "the Earth won't let me die". Before that in the issue, it shows him in 1963 getting shot through the forehead and he actually appears before 'Mother Earth' and she tells him she can't let him go onto death yet. I think they're just splitting hairs now to change it from 'the Earth won't let him die' to 'the Earth won't let him STAY dead'.

I'm pretty sure anytime he's taken enough damage that he 'should have' died, he actually did die, though very briefly before being brought back. Maybe his vacations in his little 'paradise in hell' seem like hours or days to him, but then they become only short moments gone by once he's back.

Yeah, I chalked those up to what was (in VH1) his ability to heal super-quickly like Aram. The current narrative seems to be an attempt to put more meat on those bones. I'm good with it.

[agent_graves]

Pretty decent start, but not much happened. I think Valiant, should start making their #1's, oversized.

[omega_override]

Pretty decent start, but not much happened. I think Valiant, should start making their #1's, oversized.

Oversized how? You mean like more pages?

[possumgrease]

Pretty decent start, but not much happened. I think Valiant, should start making their #1's, oversized.

I agree with the page count. I think a 40 page 1st issue really helps introduce the character or the new storyline, whichever the case may be. I believe Kirkman and others at Image tend to do this which I appreciate.

[BugsySig]

Pretty decent start, but not much happened. I think Valiant, should start making their #1's, oversized.

I agree. this issue could have used 36-48 pages easily given the many wordless panels of art and lack of story movement.

[jeremycoe]

They often do release oversized first issues, just not this one.

[agent_graves]

Pretty decent start, but not much happened. I think Valiant, should start making their #1's, oversized.

Oversized how? You mean like more pages?

Yes!!

They often do release oversized first issues, just not this one.

The plus issues for Rai & Dr Mirage, are the only ones I can think of, not counting anniversary issues and such. Of course Ninjak, has been oversized since #1.

[agent_graves]

Pretty decent start, but not much happened. I think Valiant, should start making their #1's, oversized.

I agree with the page count. I think a 40 page 1st issue really helps introduce the character or the new storyline, whichever the case may be. I believe Kirkman and others at Image tend to do this which I appreciate.

I appreciate that as well, more story content, in a first issue, is always a plus...

I agree. this issue could have used 36-48 pages easily given the many wordless panels of art and lack of story movement.

Maybe will get a plus size issue, before #2.. (I doubt it, but..)

[Bl00dsh0t]

Loved the art, love the concept of 'Eternity' however, as may of you have said, the comic didn't feel meaty.

Also - was the opening pages meant to connect with the ending where Gilad is standing at the ledge/cliff-face? If so, there was an editorial mistake as the opening pages have Gilad in his well-known clothes while the end of the book has him bare chested...

[BugsySig]

Pretty decent start, but not much happened. I think Valiant, should start making their #1's, oversized.

Oversized how? You mean like more pages?

Yes!!

They often do release oversized first issues, just not this one.

The plus issues for Rai & Dr Mirage, are the only ones I can think of, not counting anniversary issues and such. Of course Ninjak, has been oversized since #1.

XO#1 was oversized as well.

[jmatt]

Loved the art, love the concept of 'Eternity' however, as may of you have said, the comic didn't feel meaty.

Also - was the opening pages meant to connect with the ending where Gilad is standing at the ledge/cliff-face? If so, there was an editorial mistake as the opening pages have Gilad in his well-known clothes while the end of the book has him bare chested...

Good catch.

There were some LotR overtones throughout, for me. The land feels like Mordor swarming with baddies, and Gilad has his Gollum buddy (he even talks similarly). And there's mention of an Iron Door -- and the great door that Frodo and Sam have to sneak passed came to mind. And to complete the anaology, the Boss Villain, the Humongous and Sauron.

Not that I mind, just pointing it out.

[jeremycoe]

Pretty decent start, but not much happened. I think Valiant, should start making their #1's, oversized.

Oversized how? You mean like more pages?

Yes!!

They often do release oversized first issues, just not this one.

The plus issues for Rai & Dr Mirage, are the only ones I can think of, not counting anniversary issues and such. Of course Ninjak, has been oversized since #1.

XO#1 was oversized as well.

Unity as well, I believe.

[BugsySig]

Loved the art, love the concept of 'Eternity' however, as may of you have said, the comic didn't feel meaty.

Also - was the opening pages meant to connect with the ending where Gilad is standing at the ledge/cliff-face? If so, there was an editorial mistake as the opening pages have Gilad in his well-known clothes while the end of the book has him bare chested...

I don't think the ending ties right back into the beginning. I think that scene is still yet to come. Notice Gilad walks past the axe in his house before heading out and, as you said, was in different clothing.

[Donovan]

While the exploration of the Eternal Warrior's senses was very well executed, I found by the third sense it had lost it's effect.

The zombie-bears and people-impaling-tree-branches were EXPONENTIALLY more terrifying here than they were in Book of Death.

And damn if that cover doesn't make me want to see David Lafuente doing the interiors of a Valiant book. The colours on that cover were awesome too!

[wwise03]

I quite liked it and thought it was much better than I was expecting. I thought it was a good idea to see what many of y'all are describing as a slow issue or one where not a lot happens. The last thing I wanted to see was Eternal Warrior fighting hundreds of weird demon-like creatures that stand no chance against him while he says things like "you will die at my blade, "stay down," and "arrrrrghhhhh."

Let's get down to the core of Gilad. What makes him happy? What are the mechanics of his eternalness? Why would he ever leave his family/paradise (assuming he does)? Also, we have an interesting mystery in the archer. I am absolutely on board for this book, though if issue 2 is nothing but Gilad fighting those creatures, I will be disappointed.

[jmatt]

While the exploration of the Eternal Warrior's senses was very well executed, I found by the third sense it had lost it's effect.

I agree. After the third sense i was like "Okay. We get it." It was effective though. I wonder if we're supposed to see this as Gilad's heaven and the real world as his hell. He certainly seemed much happier than he does on Earth.