“Will you stop asking if this is my fantasy? What kind of person do you think I am?”
Star Power #28
(February, 2020)
“The Life Smugglers” part 3
WRITER: Michael Terracciano
ARTIST: Garth Graham
The loss of his son has convinced the Embuvalij head to give up, letting our heroes do whatever it is they plan to do without interference or revenge, but will end the bloodshed by helping take down the families. Of course that doesn’t mean their first target, the Vutovix, is coming out of this alive. Our heroes try to go undercover, but a change in the assassins’ ceremony causes a snag in the plan. Fortunately, the crew comes out on top, as the Embuvalij get revenge by blowing the place up, the Vutovix’s leader the only one brought in alive…not that Grex didn’t try.
What they got right: Good action, good character moments with Danica and Burke as well as Grex and Semme. Even the Embuvalij head (they’re called Gustavos but I never remember) gets some character development. Whether or not he actually plans to put this behind after his payback we have yet to see.
What they got wrong: It’s not like there hasn’t been death before in this comic, but this issue really pushed the envelope for what I’ve listed as an all-ages comic. Partly by necessity, granted, but the Embuvalij spy in the police getting triggerhappy rescuing the one set of slaves (with a survivor among the slavers so I’m betting that comes back at some point), the “bloodletting” ceremony that turns into a bloodbath when the ceremony is altered…it doesn’t cross that line, but for this particular series it comes a bit close for my liking.
What I think overall: Next week is the final issue and I’m going to miss this series. I hope you’ve been reading along and considering getting the print versions. I have a few of the physical issues before physical went to all trades of the digital comic but I wouldn’t mind having the whole series in case something happens to the webcomic version.
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