Incursion #1 Review: Death from Above

By Nolan P. Smith

Valiant has its main stable of heroes, and one of them is the Eternal Warrior himself, Gilad. A man cursed with the ability not to die; he has wandered the Earth for thousands of years, protecting those in need and always protecting the Geomancer, whomever it might be. He has fought deadly threats from around the world, but with Valiant’s next big series Incursion, Gilad looks to be going toe to toe with an unknown threat from above.

Written by Alex Paknadel and Andy Diggle with art by Doug Braithwaite, colors by Jose Villarrubia and Diego Rodriguez and letters by Marshall Dillon, this is one hell of a way to kick off this self-contained story. This is what Valiant does best, it delivers 4 issue series full of heart and action, much like their Divinity series. Valiant is the king of self-contained epics, and by the looks of it, Incursion is right on track to be one of the greats.

With this first issue, we are introduced to Imperatrix Virago, the menace coming to track down the Geomancer. Virago has destroyed civilizations in a matter of moments, draining the lives of those around her to help preserve her essence. Like Galactus, but with far more evil and cunningness to her. Paknadel and Diggle deliver big time on the script: we see just how powerful Imperatrix Virago is right from the beginning. We also see the interactions between Gilad and Tama, the newly appointed Geomancer. I have read many stories with Gilad, including the epic Book of Death, where he once again tried to defend a Geomancer to no avail. Braithwaite’s artwork is epic and is a great fit for this book. It has the look and feel of an action blockbuster, with more heart and emotion than we have seen from the “Big two” in quite some time.

Incursion is the beginning of greatness, as we all hope that Gilad and Tama can defeat, or even merely survive the arrival of Imperatrix Virago. I highly recommend this!

Rating: 9.5 out of 10.