Imaginitive and Inventive - a brilliant fantasy story, 30 Nov 2003

The script,as always, is by the superb Pat Mills and features his usual melange of excellent and often humourous dialogue, witty observation and unique cultures and takes on life. Amongst the puns includes `Leyser' weapons- guns that fire bolts of pure destructive energy, taken from the (national?) grid of ley-lines that distribute `earth-power' across the world. Also included is the Celtic god of destruction, Crom Cruach, in the form a gigantic multidimensional parasitic worm that feeds on the negative emotions of lesser species.

Add into this Atlanteans, Diluvials (exoskeletal prehistoric warriors that attack with sound, inspired by the `unusual' evolutionary concepts of Rudolf Steiner), the tremendously Cthulhoid Cythrons (true `dev-els') and other wonderfully reinvented elements of Celtic myth and other sources and you end up with one of the best fantasy stories of the last twenty years. The premise of the Cythrons farming humans for their negative emotions is tremendous and makes for some bizarre, and disturbing imagery in the tale.

The artwork is superb and wholly in black and white, chiefly by David Pugh, Glenn fabry and Bryan Talbot- the atmosphere is at once wholly alien and very Celtic. Each artist brings a unique twist to the characters and to the story, whilst retaining a constant consistancy. Very few compare to the incredible talent of Glenn Fabry, however- his presentation of facial expressions, particularly those of the alien Cythrons is superb. The ornate architecture of Cythrawl, the prison/homeworld of the Cythrons is spectacular.

The story is rapid and engaging, the characters are extreme, but believable: considering the scale of imagination used in this work that is very impressive. Quite simply one of the most imaginitive fantasy stories produced in comics, beautifully illustrated and superbly scripted: one of the best and definitely not to be missed.