Glory #25 Review
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 17 April 2012 01:00
- Written by Andrenn
Glory was a title that instantly grabbed my attention and has kept it for the past two months. Now the first arc wraps up with the 25th issue being a big special jump forward in time. After two strong reads, can Glory end its first arc on a high note or will this exciting new series go a little too far out there? Let's find out!
Creative Team
Writer: Joe Keatinge
Artist: Ross Campbell
Colorist: Ms, Shatia Hamilton
Story Rating: 9 Futures out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Futures out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Futures out of 10
Synopsis: 500 years in the future, Riley reaches Mars. She is a scarred old woman now and she still wears the coat Glory gave her. When on Mars she goes to get a hover bike, getting into an argument with the rental. When the alien threatens her with an enforcer she fights him off and then holds the alien renter at knife-point to pay the rental fee she was promised.
Flying out through mars, after killing a creature and eating it, Riley waits. She is later attacked by Glory, now looking more like her demonic father. The two soon settle down and begin to catch up. Glory asks how have things been and Riley reveals that during her personal war, Glory ruined the Earth. Sacrificing it for her own victory.
In this flashback it is also revealed that Glory fought Supreme. He broke her left arm and she retaliated by ripping off his right arm and then leaving him to die. Riley says there was no one left to save them. So the humans had to work with the demons to salvage Earth but it has not gotten any better.
Riley tells Glory all this and says her fight is over. Gory understands and snaps Riley's neck. Riley then wakes up, realizing it was a dream. She runs to Gloria's room and tells her about her vision of the future. Gloria admits that why she got Riley to come here was not to help Glory, but to stop her.
Commentary
The Good: Glory #25 is about as excellent as a comic book can be. Wrapping up the first arc and leaving us satisfied with everything Keatinge has built up for us and then getting us excited to see where he plans to go with the series from here. After three issues I am now sold on Glory being one of my favorite new ongoings and one of the best comics Image is putting out.
The purpose of this arc was to establish everything about Keatinge's run from this point. We know who Glory was, who she is and what she may become. Past, present and future all in three issues. Everything is in place now from here to take us to new places that could either lead Glory to becoming the destroyer in Riley's vision or stop her from making that huge mistake. Keatinge has given the readers a huge hook that, for this reader, has me dying to see where his run goes from here.
Of all the Extreme Relaunch titles, Glory has to be my favorite so far. Because while the other titles all have things going for them, Glory has the best character work. This arc has developed Glory and her companions well. We know and now like these characters and Keatinge does an excellent job making them interesting enough to keep our attention. Great character work is the backbone of any good story and Glory is not lacking it.
Riley's character contrasts greatly from how she was in the first issue. Previously, Riley was just trying to find Glory. She was once a huge fan of Glory. Now she is a bitter old woman, made that way by hundreds of years of fighting. We are not sure how she is even alive or when she became such a great fighter but Keatinge writes old Riley well. As if we'd been reading about Riley over the last 500 issues and this was where she'd logically gone after all this time.
Glory herself has not actually gotten that much screen time or development over the past three issues. Keatinge has instead chosen to show us who Glory is through her actions. Showing she's impulsive, incredibly strong, not afraid to stand up for herself in the face of powerful individuals and that she is somewhat detached from humanity. All of this without wasting several pages on exposition or giving her generic quirks to make us invested.
The premise behind Glory is brilliant. Bring in the new character, she has a connection to Glory and we think she is going to help Glory save the world. When really she's going to have to try and save the world from Glory. This is a great twist that turns things on its head without ruining all that's come before it. This does not change Glory as the hero or make the characters less important. Everything we saw before still matters, the dynamic is just a little different.
There is so much that can come out of this premise. Riley is more important than ever now, as the one person that could stop Glory. The way they interact will be more important and even uneasy. Every battle will be important but every battle could mean Glory going one step closer to destroying the world. This isn't something readers will forget in a couple of months, this is going to stick with us and keep us interested following the characters and where their path leads them for a long time.
Glory has had great action and some of the violence here has been brutal. But nothing can top seeing Glory's arm broken in half and then the panel of Supreme losing his arm in retaliation. The way Campbell drew those panels made my arms hurt a little. It was also great bringing back Supreme after the moment he shared with Glory in the first issue was the best part of it.
Campbell has really impressed me on Glory. Despite having no familiarity with his artwork before, he quickly made me a fan. Now three issues in and his artwork on Glory is some of the best art I am seeing each month. Campbell nails both emotion and action very well. When Glory is crying over killing Riley, you feel her pain without a single word of dialogue needed. And as said just a moment ago, the violence looks so great I felt my arms hurt.
Hamilton deserves a shout out for doing amazing colors on this series. I can't imagine anyone else coloring Campbell's great artwork and it looking the same as it does thanks Hamilton.
The Bad: I have no complaints with this issue.
Overall: If you were skeptical about Glory because of preconceived notions from the older comics or even if not, you just were not sure if would be your thing, trust me, its worth your time. Glory has taken three issues to build a world, develop its characters and hook readers with a premise that is sure to keep you reading and then impatiently waiting for more next month.
Keatinge and Campbell have taken a title that before never would have been on my radar and turned it into one of my favorite comics to read each month. That is a huge success and you should all see why it succeeds so well. With only three issues in, its not too late to pick up Glory and get in early on what looks to be one of the best Image titles in 2012.
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Andrenn got back into comics years ago with a random issue of Spawn. From there he was hooked and a couple years later he had to share his thoughts with the world at his old blog New Age Comics with Andrenn. Now a huge Image fan and a horror geek, Andrenn writes for the Comic Book Revolution. You can follow Andrenn's ramblings and thoughts from the links below.
Twitter: @Andrenn
Formspring: Andrenn
Glory