Days Missing, Volume 2: Kestus

Days Missing #2

by Phil Hester, David Marquez, Trevor Roth (Idea)

Archaia and Roddenberry Productions are proud to present the thrilling sequel to the critically acclaimed series Days Missing. Days Missing: Kestus continues the saga of The Steward, a mysterious being whose ability to “fold” days of time has resulted in critical human events being absent from our historical record. Their existence is not remembered…but the occurrences of these days have forever changed the course of our evolution. Since humanity’s birth, The Steward has stood as a guiding force for our species. But now, he is not alone! The emergence of the ancient being, Kestus, may put everything he knows in question, and the future of those he means to protect in jeopardy. Days Missing: Kestus spans the ages, featuring adventures about ancient China, the burning of Egypt's Alexandria, the 1969 moon launch, Y2K, and the Large Hadron Collider.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

144 pages, Hardcover

First published June 7, 2011

About the author

This Eisner Award-nominated artist was born in eastern Iowa, where he went on to study at the University of Iowa. His pencilling credits include Swamp Thing, Brave New World, Flinch, Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Clerks: The Lost Scene, The Crow: Waking Nightmares, The Wretch (nominated for the 1997 Eisner Award for Best New Series), Aliens: Purge, and Green Arrow.

Since graduating from the University of Iowa, he has been in the comics industry for over 15 years.

Reviews

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kestus is the character the Steward discovered in the last volume. She is immortal and is present in moments that the Steward has to fix, partly because she influences them in a destructive way. She is interested in his ability to fold days and is attracted to him, a thing that eventually gets her to switch sides and work for humanity instead.

In 531 BCE the Steward influences the two sides of a imminent conflict, discouraging the attackers by showing their leader's mortality and arming the defenders by showing them how to forge iron weapons. The leader of the attackers in called Kestus and it's suggested that she contacted a being like the Steward after her defeat and the leader of the defenders is Confucius who will never pick up a sword again, favoring the power of the word instead.

48 BCE is when the Steward tries to prevent the burning of the library of Alexandria. The learned men refuse to listen to him until he speaks with their oracle, Kestus, the same woman from Confucius's time. The library can't be saved, but the learned men survive to rewrite the scrolls they lost to the fire.

In 1969 the Saturn V rocket explodes with no apparent reason. Kestus activates a Russian sleeper agent who is supposed to sabotage the rocket resulting in a failed launch. The Steward does more than just prevent the sabotage, he convinces Kestus to see his point of view and the benefits to humanity's progress.

The Y2K virus seems to create a blackout on the East Coast. One day before this, Kestus, on Steward's side this time around, works to stop the real cause: a series of EMP devices set to disable power plants on New Year's Eve. Kestus has gathered human allies to her side. She leads an organization with all manner of state-of-the-art technology she can employ in helping humanity in moments like this one. A disgruntled scientist is to blame for the blackout. The Steward takes him for a ride in his home dimension, effectively unraveling the scientist's existence before he can trigger his EMPs.

The Hadron collider is ready for another test. Kestus decides to sabotage the test, but the Steward steps in. The Steward manages to reason with her and stop a loyal employee of hers from sabotaging another section of the collider. They realise that the energies they project, energies that keep them immortal, are influencing the collider. A second Big Bang is triggered, deleting the universe, but Kestus's memories of the old world recreate the universe exactly as it was. The Steward loses Kestus, his true love, but another entity is created: Enox.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second installment addresses two problems I had with volume 1. First off, it introduces another main character so that the Steward has someone to interact with. Secondly, it uses the same creative team throughout giving this volume a consistency that was noticeably lacking in its predecessor. the writing is still very good but it now has more depth and meaning mainly because of the introduction of Ketus. The two protagonists play well off one another and that adds a poignancy to the ending. I still question the importance of the events that are chosen to be influenced by them both but the addition of flashbacks do add an emotional level that enhances these episodes. I enjoyed this book a lot more than its' predecessor and now want to read the series to its conclusion.

[Bill Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Days Missing: Kestus is a nice take on time travel and science fiction with a nice slice of humanity at it's core. From the scrapbook of Gene Roddenberry, it has an episodic feel with a nice through line to hold the narrative together. The rock star here is David Marquez who slides from one time period to the next in a job that earned him a nomination for the 2011 Russ manning Award. Beautiful art marries an entertaining story for a nice read.

[Daisy Hibbard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great continuation of the first volume. The artist does not change in every chapter like the first volume which, in my opinion, didn't make it feel so choppy. The stories seemed to match up and flow better just from having 1 artist. I couldn't put this book down. I read it from start to finish in a couple of hours and savored every word and drawing. Prepare for volume 3!

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

The graphics are crisp and colorful, the story arc is brief but consistent; As a whole the concept is clever. This second book of episodes begs for more depth, but supports the nature of the Steward in that events are occasional and quick. The writer touches on the key emotions, intent of the characters without overburdening us. I'd love to explore this story further in a written novel!

[Doc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give the story a FIVE and my heart broke in the end for Kestus and the Steward. But this got a 4 rating coz the art was around a 3 except for that panel near the end where the two of them were kneeling. Can't wait for the next arc.

[Chris Philbrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this a great deal, but not as much as volume two. The focus shift to Kestus just wasn't as compelling as the Steward's story was.

Having said that, I still really enjoyed it, and I'm still really excited to read more books in the series.

[Elise Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five stars for the story, three for the artwork. Hester is really great at the dialogue, but I miss the illustrator for the fifth episode of the first book. New mission: find out who that was.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading.

[Michelle Morrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alone for the entirety of time, The Steward finds there is another. But is she friend, or foe? The fate of the universe rests on the answer.