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Review: The Amory Wars: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3 #5
Review: The Amory Wars: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3 #5
The Amory Wars: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3 #5
Writers: Claudio Sanchez & Peter David
Artist: Chris Burnham
Colorist: Zac Atkinson
Letterer: Johnny Lowe
After last issue’s build up, we’re back in the thick of things sooner than expected. This issue is almost non-stop action as the forces of Wilhelm Ryan’s Red Army and Inferno’s rebels finally meet face to face in bloody battle.
As a short recap, the story of the Amory Wars is essentially that of a small group of rebels, the core of which is comprised of a semi-divine family of artificially created human beings with super human abilities, strive to overthrow the “Tri-Mage” Wilhelm Ryan, supreme ruler of the galaxy known as Heaven’s Fence. Heaven’s Fence is a series of physically interconnected worlds formerly under the more or less absolute domination of a series of twelve “mages,” all murdered by Ryan in his bid for power. His ultimate goal is the usurpation of the role of God.
Last issue was a series of dialogue-heavy expository scenes as Claudio (the character, not the writer) details his exploits to his ex-girlfriend’s dog. We are given a bit of background on the religion of Heaven’s Fence, as well as some glimpses into how Claudio and the rest of the Kilgannon family fit into the scheme of its divinity. The information is nothing new to readers of the first two series (or fans of Sanchez’s band, Coheed & Cambria) but it does serve as important information for those who may be new to the franchise.
After an underwater spaceship battle in issue three put them on the run, Inferno’s rebel forces make a stand on the planet known as Silent Earth. While Mayo Deftinwolf’s forces vastly outnumber and outgun the rebels, and they could easily bomb them into eternity, Wilhelm Ryan wishes to make an example of Inferno so the battle must take to the ground.
While Inferno’s infantry, complimented by the family of IRO-Bots (the artificial, superhumanly powerful, beings mentioned earlier) initially seem to be more than holding their own, Deftinwolf himself makes short work of Sizer forcing Chase to reveal herself in order to once again even the odds. Despite this, the Red Army is like the tide and Inferno’s troops are limited. Only the arrival of the Prise, the literally angelic warrior women created by God himself, seems to offer hope.
This was easily the best issue of this series so far. The plot has come to a head at exactly the right point in time, and the action was both smooth and organic. At no point did I feel that the story was rushed or that I was being short-changed on development in exchange for gratuitous action as happens in some books. As I’ve said before, the addition of Peter David as scripter has helped Claudio Sanchez’s story immensely and Chris Burnham is the perfect artist to bring this story to life. If the rest of this series is as half as good as this issue, Boom! will be ahead of the game.
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