Book of Death #2 Discussion

[grendeljd]

Last week was a mammoth Valiant release week with four books!

If anyone would like to hear our OTV:VCR podcast discussing/reviewing this issue (& BOD:LotG #2, RAI #9, & Ivar Timewalker #8), please follow the link;

http://onlythevaliant.com/episodes/vcr28/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks to any who listen in

[Sir Sandrick]

Ok, so my only gripe in this issue (fantastic issue) is the way Gin Gr is drawn. It should be huge, look huge, but in most of the panels it really looks dinky. I mean- it/she is a starship! The panel where it/she is defeated and laying down- it would be more likely we would only be able to see a toe.

I did really enjoy the writing quite a bit, though! Loving it!

[Watchtower]

Book of Death has been very nicely done so far. I could tell from the brief moments at the end of The Valiant that I was going to like Tama and I definitely do, the whole conflict of there being two Geomancers active at once is interesting, and Master Darque makes a grand re-entry as he tortures the hell out of poor David.

People would say Gilad won too easily, but honestly I think he kinda deserves to. Too often has Gilad been "the muscle", the guy with the battle ax that never goes down in a fight. It's refreshing to see him outsmart his way to victory, taking advantage of personalities to set up his traps and figuring Ninjak would have a contingency against XO and using it against them. Even his escape is well-planned, telling Tama to kick up a sandstorm to hide from surveillance.

The flash-forwards with Tama reading have been a bit on the vague side, more tiny teases without any definitive meat, but it's still nice to see. Loving all the references to Valiant past and present, and it's very clear that a lot of planning has involved. Sure, there's no straight dates like "Shadowman dies in 1999", but the vagueness actually helps them alot, giving them room to go to these points whenever they want.

Valiant has overall completely impressed me. Their goal was to recreate the famous Rai #0, to foretell the future of Valiant Comics itself and tie together the present day with the year 4000, and they've by all counts succeeded with flying colors. Venditti is working his magic here, Kindt and Lemire have more than pulled their weight in their Fall Of books (and I just know Dysart and Venditti will do just as well), and while I haven't read Legends of the Geomancer I can't think it can be that bad with Van Lente behind it. It's been a while since Valiant has made me so hooked, and I'm looking forward to how the rest of this story turns out.

[SwiftMann]

...the whole fight with the unity team feels like a cheap way to show gilad´s coolness and experience.

Honestly, I think that's the artwork's fault. It wasn't clear at all what was going on in some panels. And, yes, this was written as Gilad as Batman, but I think it was well written. The future teaser stuff was really good, as it is in the Fall of ______ books.

[leonmallett]

An enjoyable issue, but this has not felt like a true event story so far in terms of what is happening. Yes it is significant in terms of its allusions to the futures of key characters from the VALIANT Universe, but less so the contemporary events in the tale. It feels smaller in that scale than even The Valiant, despite retreading one of the central themes from there with the journey of a neophyte Geomancer with super-warrior guardian.

Still think Gill was the wrong choice for the book sorry to say.