Villordsutch reviews Aphrodite IX #3…
“Aphrodite IX was created for a purpose, but she does not know what it is. Torn between two factions in a hostile, new world, she’s forced to choose sides in a war that she wants no part in.“
I was offered a number of comics to review this week and I recalled seeing in the last issue of Think Tank an advert for this comic and as Think Tank was rather good I was hoping to strike lucky with this issue too.
Entering a story three issues in can be a case of “what’s happening here then?” Normally the author will be kind enough to give you a panel to help you catch up and quickly understand what the heck is happening. Here you can either read Aphrodite IX and gather the crumbs that are laid out for you to work out for yourself what has gone before, or you could go and buy the back issues giving a few more pennies to both Hawkins and Sejic. I chose the former as I have no pennies to give.
We enter the story with Aphrodite sat naked under a waterfall, holding a knife, with blood dripping down from it onto her shin. We’re unaware of where it has come from until a few panels later, where we discover a murder has taken place and a prisoner has escaped. Adding two and two together we can assume that Aphrodite has been involved here and this is shown as correct when we discover that the SEPROS (cybernetically modified humans) are talking to Helen (the escaped prisoner) about not targeting Aphrodite. So throughout this comic we are given enough crumbs to work out the Aphrodite is a “sleeper” in the full human society known as the Gens and she is slowly assassinating the heads of the ruling family to disrupt their society whilst readying for an all out attack.
As noticed in Think Tank, Matt Hawkins, is a writer that understands that out there, in Comicland, are readers who are intelligent (semi or fully) and like to be treated to a smart unfolding story where in the first panel correct guesses are not made about the ending instead, you read these pages allowing the story to slowly emerge enough to keep you both interested and excited for what is coming on the following page. This (as said) is my first issue and already I am captivated enough to raise my hand in the air for next months comic when the Flickering Myth Editor brings us our treats.
Now with a slightly guilty look I turn to the artwork by Stjepan Sejic. I am truly no artist and cannot draw for toffee (true story), but Sejics artwork looks odd. Not odd as in bad – it looks glorious – but odd as in how it appears on the pages. The characters look good, but they also appear like they have been pasted on top of a pre-made background image. It has a strange feeling to it, one I can’t seem to gel with as it distracts me from the flow of the comic. Perhaps in the next issue I shall be more used to the flow of the art and not have that itch in the back of my mind as I read. Am I being fussy? Possibly, but I’m just putting across how I feel and I’m sure Sejic would appreciate honesty rather than a jibbering “yes” reviewer.
Buying this comic would be a good thing to do today.
Villordsutch is married with kids and pets. He looks like a tubby Viking and enjoys science fiction. Follow him on Twitter.
Originally published July 17, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
