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WHO ARE THE VIGIL? Meet a mysterious new South Asian superteam operating in the shadow, in a key part of DC’s We Are Legends initiative, introducing all-new Asian-American heroes!

We Are Legends expands the DC Universe with authentic stories starring characters of Asian descent, as told by Asian talent! 

The Vigil is Arclight, Saya, Dodge, and Castle, a group of individuals given powers they didn’t want, determined to stop metahuman research and tech created for military applications at any cost. 

Along the way, they’ll encounter super heroes that could be allies or enemies, not a surprise for a group that exists to shut down state-sponsored superhumans… and clean up the mess before any hero or villain arrives, as if both the crime and The Vigil were never there.

The Vigil is written by Ram V (the acclaimed writer of Detective Comics , Catwoman , The Many Deaths of Laila Starr) and powerfully illustrated by Lalit Kumar Sharma ( Daredevil , Firefly )! Uncover a top-secret metahuman conspiracy in this enigmatic new series! 

This volume collects The Vigil #1-6.

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 29, 2024

9 people are currently reading
66 people want to read

About the author

Ram V

484 books356 followers
Ram V (Ramnarayan Venkatesan) is an author and comic book writer from Mumbai, India. His comics career began in 2012 with the award-nominated Indian comic series, Aghori. A graduate of the City University of London’s Creative Writing MA, he has since created the critically acclaimed Black Mumba and the fantasy adventure series, Brigands.

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5 stars
19 (11%)
4 stars
72 (42%)
3 stars
56 (33%)
2 stars
16 (9%)
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5 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
Profile Image for Kim Lockhart.
1,235 reviews197 followers
June 7, 2024
This was good, full of action, and full of thinly developed but still interesting characters. Honestly, the plot was hard to follow, but I liked the unique tech premises. Felt just a touch rushed, like a sped-up roller coaster ride that ends abruptly.
Profile Image for J.
1,562 reviews37 followers
May 13, 2024
Another in DC's series focusing on AAPI creators and characters, this is about a secret agency of the Indian government. Like a lot of secret organization comics, it's a tad confusing at times. There is a blockbuster revelation at the end that blew a lot of the preconceptions out of the water, but ultimately wasn't enough to make this a 4 star read for me. Decent overall but not that memorable.
Profile Image for Mohan Vemulapalli.
1,157 reviews
June 28, 2024
"The Vigil" is a promising start to what will, hopefully, be a long running series. The book focuses on a secretive super team of covert operatives that is run by the Indian government. This first volume does a good job of setting the stage and drawing the reader in. Many readers will find some of the elements familiar and reminiscent of a DC owned series from the 90s. However, it is hard to say much more about this book without revealing major spoilers. Suffice it to say that fans of the Wildstorm universe are likely to enjoy the conclusion of this first volume and find themselves wanting more.
Profile Image for Rod Brown.
7,405 reviews284 followers
November 15, 2024
A cerebral take on the original Doom Patrol or X-Men hasn't enough heart to make me care about any of the characters. And the plot boils down to two rival scientists sending their secret agents against each other in a clandestine war, so the stakes feel super low.


FOR REFERENCE:

Originally published in single magazine form in Lazarus Planet: Next Evolution ["The Vigil: See No Evil"] and The Vigil #1-6.

Contents: See No Evil [Lazarus Planet: Next Evolution] -- Jig in a Storm [The Vigil #1] -- Weather Warning [The Vigil #2] -- Shadow [The Vigil #3] -- The Check Hook [The Vigil #4] -- Check Mate [The Vigil #5] -- All the Fish [The Vigil #6]
Profile Image for Aaron.
1,043 reviews44 followers
February 5, 2025
The existence of metahumans is not the secret. The widespread but heavily whispered abuse of nascent technology is not the secret. The inevitable feuding between bureaucrats, technocrats, and entrenched militarists is not the secret.

In THE VIGIL, the secret is that metahumans are so abundant as have become lab experiments on the whim of a struggling government, the secret is that decades of advanced technology have wrought a multitude of success and destruction, and the secret is that the feuds propelling these advancements are about to spill into the public. Readers keen on superhero stories that are not subject to the usual, clean, predictable parlays will enjoy the curiosity and daring with which THE VIGIL attempts to resolve its most novel challenges.

Nudging into the unpredictable may not be what Nia Saha asked for when she's assigned to oversee a group of metahuman operatives, but the woman's intelligence and adaptability are clearly what will determine whether she sinks or swims. Nia is generally circumspect, but knows when to pull the trigger; she's observant, but knows when to voice her opinion; and she's patient, but isn't afraid of having difficult conversations. And so, when the woman becomes the field admin for metahumans who skirt the line between government-sanctioned justice and private interest, Nia tasks herself with doing everything she can to keep everyone sane (including herself).

Nia's team includes an emotionally unstable ex-military officer with electromagnetic abilities (Maj. Aqib Khan), a child genius with incredible hacking skills (Castle), a combat expert whose speed and physiological resilience is as of yet unresearched (Dinah), a master of infiltration and disguise (Saya), and an invulnerable man (Tyaga). Now, if only the team's overall supervisor, Dr. Sankaran, would stop keeping secrets from the group, then maybe, just maybe, the team could complete a mission without accidentally killing a bunch of people, blowing stuff up, or second-guessing the motives behind their assignment.

THE VIGIL pulls together a very condensed but compelling story. Nia sees these events as the audience sees them: a gang of awkward and unremarkable people, with dangerous intellect or abilities, working under the radar to locate technology or information for faceless leadership. And the creative team frames the narrative accordingly, including characters of Indian and South Asian heritage, building ordinary personas on the precipice of greatness (e.g., failed athlete, outcast soldier, brilliant child runaway), and integrating bad guys who are just as nebulously ambitious as the good guys. Dinah, for example, ever in pursuit of a found family, tends to feel sorry for herself; and yet, when things go bad, she never hesitates to put her fists out front to keep the team alive.

The story of the characters of THE VIGIL is remarkably simple, but one often feels the likelihood of encountering similarly drafted narratives is notoriously slim. One of the comic's recurring themes concerns the effort required to discern the line between "regular people" and those on the front lines of increasingly dangerous power struggles.

And in this context, the story, characters, and conflicts of India- or Asia-centered adventures are ripe for engagement. Ram V's story ventures deeper into science fiction the further the reader goes, but the baseline premise of something familiar slowly evolving into something fantastic, if slightly different, is perhaps the best way to encounter a new superhero book.
Profile Image for Subham.
3,078 reviews103 followers
November 28, 2023
This was a pretty good read and it gives DC its own Indian superheroes, and well speaking as an Indian I really like that aspect and for the most part I enjoyed this volume, seeing how this team came to be and I like how the writer showed each issue focusing on another character and really fleshing them out, I really liked Dodge and Saya's origin and how messed up they are and the tragedy behind it. Arclight origin was rushed I feel but there's an emotional component that was well done.

Its towards the end where they pretty much just pull a big twist and I am kinda mixed on it like !

So yeah its one of those thing where the twists sort of feels weird to me and I didn't like it that much because of that, it should have been some government experiment or something like that, which I would have preferred but I really love the character of Castle and how smart he is and like the sociopath level of tendency and how he could pretty much just tell the villain their plans and dismantle them.. bro gives off Lex luthor vibes lol.

I like how it also connected to the present Superman run, and they sort of hinted that Mr Hep whose running the company changed the name of that division to "Harmonia" because Supercorp and all that and it will be fun to see how its connected to the Brainiac story that DC has been teasing will come the next year.

But yeah back to the comic, weird middle part but also solid ending, showing the teamwork and promising where the team goes next will be insane, and yeah the writer is taking big swings and trying to make it epic and all that and who knows maybe it will just get better with future volume which will in turn make me change my thoughts on this volume, but for now oh well! Do read it once and see for yourselves how you feel about it!
Profile Image for Tony Laplume.
Author 53 books38 followers
March 8, 2025
Sometimes it does take a little time to appreciate something. For instance, now that Ram V is writing New Gods, it’s easier to see that if nothing else The Vigil was a kind of audition. It’s more, and better than, that, but it’s that, too.

Buried within the “We Are Asians” creative dump of Asian characters/creators, it was probably easy to overlook Vigil for a lot of readers. They missed out. Vigil is like old school Vertigo mixed with new school Valiant. It’s like the TV show Fringe. It’s like The Authority, Planetary. It’s like…Well, it’s Ram V, so anyone who’s wised up about that should have the necessary perspective.

And it’s intricate storytelling. Hopefully he has a chance to continue. If he doesn’t, it’s all the more ironic that he’s now writing New Gods: an epic setup, a vision, just waiting to play itself out.

Bottom line here, like Fringe there’s an arc here. It’s not just a team book, it’s not just ideas. We have the origin, here. Origins. Ram was smart enough to know in superhero stories the origin is everything, especially if it propels the story ever onward. Kid sees his parents murdered, baby rocketed away from dying world, girl raised on mythological island, youth bitten by radioactive spider…

Anyway, I wasn’t completely sold on Vigil until this reread. I read the issues when they were released. Now I’m able to appreciate how audaciously Ram played the format. Somehow, if anything, it feels, in reverse, that was actually the ideal way to experience it. But easier to see it this way.

Anyway, Ram V continues to stand revealed as one of the great talents of recent years. And years to come.
Profile Image for Arjun Iyer.
90 reviews38 followers
December 3, 2024
A near perfect proof of concept

I'm a simple person. I see a project written by Ram V. and I choose to read it. Like his other works (The Many Deaths of Laila Starr and These Savage Shores) The Vigil delivers on expectations of entertainment, action, adventure and intelligent writing. Unlike his other works however, I have to satisfy myself with the knowledge that my journey with The Vigil may only be limited to these six issues.

I am no stranger to unfinished comic-books/book-series (looking at you Warren Ellis and Patrick Rothfuss) but that doesn't mean I relish the idea of leaving a story written by one of my favorite authors on a cliffhanger. As a proof of concept for a south-asian metahuman team, The Vigil is near perfect. Marred only by its rushed and abrupt ending. I hope we get to see more of the team's exploits in the near future. I shall maintain a Vigil for the same.
Profile Image for Alan.
2,050 reviews16 followers
May 15, 2024
Two times in a row I've been surprised by DC's We Are Legends project. I think I should have been a little surprised to find out what I though was another, and possibly another failed, initiative by DC to add new series to its schedule, this was actually a shot at emphasizing new series staring Asian and Asian-American characters.

This is the project's team book. Indian intelligence, at least in how the series opens, has meta human assets in play. The problem with any team book mini-series is exposing the reader to each character. Ram V elected for the spotlight one character per issue format, and it works well enough here.

Ram also adds some nice story touches that upped the fun factor for me. Introducing the Bleed to the story and the urban myth surrounding the Philadelphia Experiment, were effective enough. The characterization had some hints of later WildC.A.T.S. latter issues. Castle reminds me of Tao, Arclight is similar to Spartan (ok that might be stretch).

Worth investing in from a world building perspective. While they haven't introduced an Arabic super team, DC has done African, Chinese, Japanese and Israeli teams which spreads the meta human wealth a little in their world.

Profile Image for Rahul Nadella.
595 reviews7 followers
May 9, 2024
A good and intriguing opening issue with original characters and a nice spy theme to the story. It does enough to pull you in despite not giving too much character detail. I look forward to learning more about the characters in future issues. The world building is solid and the action--when it comes--is memorable.

Ram V doesn't go overboard with his purple prose and Sharma's crisp art depicts the world and characters very well. This first volume left me wanting more which is a success in my book. Not the strongest end, but the series was great and I did like a lot of moments in this book. Arclight's actions scenes were pretty sweet. Albeit abrupt, this was a fantastic first run.

Recommended if you are looking for something a little bit different than the regular capes & cowls fare.
Profile Image for Chris Lemmerman.
Author 7 books124 followers
April 6, 2024
I'd describe the Vigil as an off-brand Doom Patrol. They're all fucked up for various reasons, and they're all working together for similar reasons. There's a bit of a disconnect between the team and the rest of the DC Universe, however. Unlike City Boy and Spirit World, you could probably take this book and drop it over at Image or something and it wouldn't need very much changing, for better or worse.

Also, the art feels a little uninspired at times. Sharma's always felt like a fairly basic artist when I've seen him on other stuff, and that translates much the same here.

Not Ram V's best contribution at DC by a long shot - it's okay, but it could be a lot better.
Profile Image for Sesana.
6,293 reviews329 followers
April 25, 2024
Pretty close to being an all origins volume. There's a pretty major twist at the end of the book that doesn't really do anything for me, at least partly because it's using the Philadelphia Experiment hoax as its centerpiece. This does seem to tie into current happenings in the Superman book, which I'm not keeping up on. I do think the characters are interesting, though. In the same ballpark as Doom Patrol as far as quirky powers and deep emotional damage goes. This particular volume just feels like it's being used to set up Vigil's appearances elsewhere, which would be fine if this weren't apparently all that's being planned for them at the moment, as far as their own book goes.
Profile Image for Benjamin Kimble.
232 reviews4 followers
July 18, 2024
The Vigil is the second book in DC’s we are Legends initiative and probably the one that will appeal to most people. The way I can describe it best as a mix between the Doom Patrol and James Bond. Basically we’ve got a group of people who are messed up mentally and physically and are brought together by a scientist who has them run secret espionage type missions. It’s a fun book but also dark and deeply sad. Ram V does a great job and incorporating Indian storytelling ideas into this story and it reminded me of some Indian stories I read a few years back. There were a couple of different artists on this book but the main one was Lalit Kumar Sharma and he really contributed to the spy feeling I got from this book in a very good way. I liked these characters and hope they show up again.
Profile Image for Matty Dub.
665 reviews8 followers
November 22, 2023
This is a strong 3.5

A great new team is introduced so the narrative is held back a little by the growing pains that usually comes with that, I’m sure moving forward there’ll be less need for exposition and more room for plot and character development. The art was great.

This team has the potential to be a Planetary-like organization and that’s doubly exciting considering how bad the recent Outsiders #1 was (Outsiders does the foolhardy and half-baked exercise of bringing Planetary into the DCU).

Looking forward to more!
33 reviews1 follower
May 18, 2024
3.5 / 5. I enjoyed this one. An Indian covert team with powers, trying to keep the planet safe by getting rid of weapons or tech that the world is not ready for. Where these weapons and tech are coming from are part of the mystery that is unveiled as the story goes on. Some parts of the book feel very Fringe-y (the tv series that is) to me. It also reminds me a bit of the Authority . enjoyable and I would read more of this team if more comes
Profile Image for Matt Harrison.
330 reviews3 followers
September 3, 2024
Ram V is easily one of my favourite writers working in comics today, and this is a great covert ops/superteam book. It makes a refreshing change to see a title focussing on South Asian characters and settings, and I really do look forward to seeing what’s next in store for this team.

The series artwork is consistently strong throughout, though I must say the cover art by both Sumit Kumar and Anand Rk is absolutely stunning.
8 reviews
August 21, 2025
Really fun Doom Patrol reboot. Solid 3.5 out of 5 stars. It’s dissapointing how the story begins as this politically intrigued narrative of global consequences just to become high concept sci-fi against a reality warping madman. I love the Doom Patrol, what The Vigil ended up being is right up my alley, but it is yet another time DC sets up a story wanting to say something socially or politically just to end with saying nothing.
Profile Image for Robby.
517 reviews4 followers
August 14, 2025
Pretty forgettable team of super saboteurs with a weird metaphysical twist that does not land. Reminds me a lot of the short-lived 1997 version of Alpha Flight that was always teasing intrigue around Department H. Artwork is painfully dull. Despite being billed as representative of South Asia, the story and characters could literally be from anywhere.
Profile Image for Livvy Hawkins.
45 reviews1 follower
October 19, 2025
This was... fine? 2 and a half or like 2.8 if Letterboxd would allow. I did round down here.

I fear this may not have been the best Ram V jumping on point. I also feel like this type of story just does not appeal to me. This DC initiative seems rad though and I do want to look into other books released as a part of it.
Profile Image for Duncan.
352 reviews
January 10, 2026
The story was all right, but all right is all I can say for it. With the group being involved with DC Comics, you'd expect Superman, Batman or at least Firestorm to make an appearance, but.... No, just occasional references to Luthor as a has-been. There was none of the connectivity that DC has finally caught the hang of. The result was a story found wanting.
Profile Image for Alex.
708 reviews11 followers
May 12, 2024
I'm not sure what I expected this to be, but I also think I over hyped this in my head. It's like Ram V's take on the Doom Patrol or Planetary. It's interesting, but also missing a core element that kept me from liking it more.
Profile Image for Matt Sautman.
1,863 reviews31 followers
October 15, 2025
The only team to emerge out from the We Are Legends line, The Vigil contains strong potential but is slightly weaker than the other titles that focused primarily on developing a single new character. Artwise, the book is of an equal caliber.
296 reviews3 followers
December 15, 2023
2.5 stars

Started well but lost it’s way, like almost everything I’ve read from Ram V.
Profile Image for Neil Carey.
300 reviews7 followers
April 13, 2024
Find someone who misses Planetary and press this into their hands. Hard.
Profile Image for Mee Too.
1,062 reviews4 followers
May 16, 2024
not usually a fan of DC or Marvel but this was a interesting story. A little different than the typical super heros that come from DC.
Profile Image for Joshua.
583 reviews15 followers
Read
July 25, 2024
Ram V. over here poised for greatness
Profile Image for Will Cooper.
1,899 reviews6 followers
December 14, 2024
3.5 stars. Really interesting new characters. Cool powers and a nice story. Will read more!
Profile Image for Grg.
849 reviews16 followers
May 15, 2025
Some cool character design, but my favorite part was when Castle would be the creepiest smart kid in the world.
31 reviews
June 7, 2025
I wish the comic was more... conclusive, but I understand why it wasn't. Otherwise, a group with an interesting premise.
Profile Image for Nitish Dang.
41 reviews
June 23, 2025
Indian superheroes ?
Black ops?
Dimensional conspiracies
This book has all that and more. Just sad it was only a mini series

Ram V needs to do the sequel asap
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews

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