Sigil: Volume 6
Planetary Union
Checker Book Publishing Group
$17.95 US/ $24.50 Canada
review by John F.D. Taff
Checker is onto something. Definitely. The company has made a name for itself reprinting classic comics and graphic novels, many of them from the defunct CrossGen universe. And they do a great job of it. High production values throughout—bright printing, crisp heavy papers and a nice cover stock all come together in a great package that’s well worth the price.
And that’s beside the story and art inside. The story, written by Chuck Dixon and penciled by Scott Eaton, Dale Eaglesham and Fabrizio Fiorentino, is pretty engrossing. Volume 6 incorporates issues 33-38 of Sigil, produced in 2003, so if this is your first issue, you’re kind of dropped into the story. But Checker makes it easier by giving you an “Our Story So Far..” that gives readers an easy synopsis of the main plot points that have transpired. Basically Sigil is a space opera cum morality play where a regular soldier named Sam is gifted with a strange and devastating power in the midst of a crippling war with the Saurian Hegemony, basically Star Trek’s Gorn on steroids.
This power, as explained in previous issues, helps Sam turn the tide of the war and basically resurrect a slain comrade. Volume 6: Planetary Union picks up from there. The slain comrade is uploaded into Sam’s ship’s computer where she lives on in holographic form. But the resurrected version is also alive and kicking, making for a dilemma about whom exactly is who. And though the war is technically over with the Saurians, a new threat comes from outside the universe makes its presence known and leaves readers, by the end of this volume, in a cliffhanger as Sam and his force prepare for battle with a new enemy.
Slick and engaging, with great art and a story that pulls you right through, Sigil Volume 6: Planetary Union is highly recommended.
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