Writer: Shuizhu and Greg Pak
Art: Ario Anindito, Gunji, Rachelle Rosenberg
Price: $3.99
Release Date: October 2nd, 2019

Could we finally get some answers about the mysterious sword? And in our second story, could an unlikely team-up be forming? Let’s find out…

After mildly complaining about lack of direction and not much going on in moving the story forward, we get quite an issue! A lot of answers, and the ever-present spectacular art!

Lin Lie is again in another dream, or vision of his past. I’ll leave you to decide which. Either works fine for me.

Three tribes came together thousands of years ago to fight Chiyou, the God of war. As in previous issues, we again get pages of spectacular art, with little to zero words. Gunji is really allowed to stretch out here and he delivers in grand fashion!!

Lin’s ancestors heard their pleas and left three weapons to defeat Chiyou. So we finally get an answer to the history of the sword! We get a King Arthur/Excalibur moment when only the weapons masters can wield them.

Back in the present Shanghai, we find out the sword is called the Sword of Fu Xi, which is the name of Lin’s ancestors. We also get a name for the demon hunter from the last few issues – Ji Shuangshuang. I’ll just call her Ji. My only issue with this is that for some reason the creative team decided to include this info in the “recap”page at the beginning of the issue. A recap is literally a summary of what has happened or been said, so I’m not sure what the reason was to reveal these items in the recap page was. I literally had to think if I had missed it in issue 3. We also find out that Ji is a descendant of one of the other tribes. The Nu-Wa. Some humor is thrown in for the first time between Lin and Ji and this book feels like it’s gaining its footing! We also get what the real problem is and what Lin and Ji must do. I won’t spoil it but it’s a very original idea and it works pretty darn well! Let’s just say Lin’s father, an archaeologist, may have unintentionally set into motion a chain of events when he brought the sword home! Ji also has some shocking info that she tells Lin about as this first story comes to an end.

I’m our second story, Ares realizes he needs Lin as he is the only one who can summon magic from the sword, to rescue his son, The Drakon. We get a nice history lesson that tells us that Drakon was to guard a sacred fleece that was eventually stolen. Drakon, a dragon of sorts, was captured and tortured for allowing the fleece to be stolen. Now Drakon has been abducted again, and he wants Lin’s help. Or actually the swords help. In exchange, Ares agrees to help Lin find his father. We again get a very funny moment when Ares needs to use an ATM to get money to gain passage to…Madripoor!!! To be continued…

I also need to mention this variant cover by Bengal, again featuring Mary Jane. She’s got a miniseries starting soon. Check it out!

Final Thoughts:

This issue really seems to have hit its’s stride. We get advancement to each story, some genuinely funny moments, all while maintaining the ever-present great art.