Geek Syndicate
are made all round. It’s stirring stuff and exactly the kind of tale that ticks my boxes. The second half of the book is the title story (though let’s be clear here, The Scorpion is one long story split into convenient easy to publish sections) and deals with the fallout from The Stone Cross. The ‘Devil’ in the Vatican is determined to protect his interests, and top of his list is crushing a certain Scorpion underfoot. Armando and his stalwart companion Hussar are on the run. Worse, they’ve got tangled up with the venomous assassin, Mejai. With warrior monks on his tale, two intelligent, beautiful and deadly women vying for his attentions and a foreign destination that is far from safe, this is a brilliant little interlude. The tale fizzes with swashbuckling relish and The Scorpion himself is chock-full of Errol Flynn bravado and humour. Of the books two halves this is the most crowd-pleasing in terms of action. You just can’t beat a bit of ropeswinging sword-play and the bedroom antics (whilst neither full-on nor prolonged) is both titillating and funny. The art-work is magnificent throughout both of the volumes I’ve read so far. Enrico Marini has a real gift for breathing life to his complex urban landscapes, ably blending subtle linework and shifting shades of watercolour to project the sense of detail, texture and light (and if his exteriors impress, his interiors astound.) He populates his world with a fine variety of figures, from the lowest of beggars to the noblest of aristocracy, eagle-eye always on posture and movement. His tiniest smudges can trick the eye into seeing distant individuals in a crowd, which is quite an achievement. As a period piece he is given the priceless gift of Costume, and what clothing he has to play with! If you like your thigh-high boots and flintlock pistols you’re in for a real treat here. The warrior monks are masked and uniformed, a chilling image but also a good way for the artist to economise. The main characters are fantastic to look upon. Armando himself is sexy as all hell, with a razorsharp little beard, floppy shirt and tight, tight trousers. Saving my sexuality are the exotic Mejai in her Egyptian garb, and the lovely Ansea Latal in her horse-riging gear - both of whom are admired by the artist’s pen, but not perved over in the way American comics do. As Hussar is not meant to be portrayed in an attractive way, Marini gets to have a bit more fun playing with some of the more extreme facial expressions. He’s an eminently likeable character and a fine foil for The Scorpion. I could go on an on about the quality of Stephen Desberg’s plotting (clearly very well thought out) and sizzling dialogue (well translated by Jerome Saincantin), the lettering - not something that usually catches my eye, but here it is used in a variety of ways to accentuate emotion and heighten drama - or the fight scenes, which simply have to be seen to be believed; each movement captured at the perfect point to convey the fullness of the action... but I don’t want to wring every damned detail out for you. Look, buy these books. Enjoy them for their dark deeds and thrilling escapades, their romping, their action, their mischief. Treasure them for the spectacular artwork and their relative obscurity amongst your comic-buying friends. Then come back and tell me how right I was. This IS a cut above the rest.
Dion Winton-Polak
Rating:
GGGGG
47