STAFF PICKS :: SOVEREIGN #2 :: APRIL 23, 2014
SETH’S PICK :: SOVEREIGN #2: Many readers have only recently realized that Image Comics is putting out some of the highest quality comics on the stands. But for every runaway hit that sells out immediately (think Black Science), there are others with a slower burning fuse of public awareness. Sovereign may fall into that latter category, but I’m here to let you know that it’s a new series well worth your time and money. In the first issue, creators Chris Roberson and Paul Maybury establish a range of themes and possibilities. There are obvious fantasy elements present, namely in the book’s inclusion of a healthy amount of magic and the undead, but those are all balanced with strong characters amid societies rife with civil unrest. I’ve seen the book regaled as a story existing in the vein of Game of Thrones, and there may well be some truth to that. This is, however, a story that was born for the comics medium, and Maybury’s always impressive cartooning eloquently reminds us of that. Sovereign is a comic with endless potential, and may just be yet another long running and entertaining series for Image.