I recently went and read the first Scion Traveler, and was suitably impressed, so while I'm a couple of story arcs behind things, I definitely had an interest in the story going into this issue. It's clear that a lot has happened since issue seven, with shifts in alliances and the end of the war that started in the first trade, but at the same time the status quo remains largely the same, with Ethan and Bron, rival princes from different kingdoms, at odds. This feeling that the characters and status quo of Crossgen characters are "safe" is what gives them their slow-paced reputation, but it also results in an accessible read, and there are certainly changes going on around the main characters, with some particularly big events this issue.
Of the four initial Crossgen titles, Scion is the only one that retains its original artists, and Jim Cheung and Don Hillsman II continue to deliver fantasy spectacle at its finest. There's a touch of science-fiction in the world of Scion, and more than a touch of super-hero in Ethan, and it's the latter that is on display this issue, as Ethan meets up with a villain whose power can compete with his sigil-granted abilities with explosive results. Cheung and Hillsman do a great job with this conflict, and while it may not have the one-on-one impressive fight sequences of Way of the Rat, the explosions, flow of energy and knocking around that goes on certainly makes for an exciting read.
In fact, the book doesn't lack for spectacle. The wedding of Ethan's beloved sister to his worst enemy is a shocking start, and Ethan's hot-blooded actions in the wake of the ceremony are certainly exciting. For whatever reason, though, I find that I'm still not deeply invested in these characters, and so the emotional jolt of what's going on, whether it's the marriage of his sister or the revelations about his father, doesn't quite hit me. It's well-constructed on a plot level, but the characters aren't deep or realistic enough to connect with me, so that while I see what I should be feeling, I don't really feel it.
That said, the plot is certainly entertaining, and it's clear that Marz has not been standing still in his time on the title. I'm very curious to read the other trades and see what happened between the declaration of war in the first story arc and the temporary truce of this story. Marz has certainly built up an interesting set of characters in Ethan and his family, and while I haven't really made a connection with the family, it's not hard to figure out the relationships, whether it's the love Ethan feels for his sister or the troubled but loyal relationship the two brothers have to one another.
This does seem to be something of a jumping-on point for Scion, because even though I wasn't really familiar with the character arcs that came to a close this issue, there were a couple of big changes and an explosive resolution that seems to have set the title on the direction of another quest. As always when I seem to pick up Scion lately, I find myself wanting to know what happens next.
