Wrath of the Eternal Warrior, Volume 2: Labyrinth

Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #2

by Robert Venditti (Writer), Raúl Allén (Artist), Juan José Ryp (Artist)

Earth's immortal soldier thought he knew pain and then he entered the depths of his enemy's Labyrinth.

Across six millennia, Gilad Anni-Padda, an immortal warrior sworn to forever serve the Earth, has felled zealots and madmen, emperors and tyrants in the course of his duty. But nothing he s faced yet can prepare him to run the Labyrinth a miles-long maze of horrors specifically designed to undermine his every strength, enhance his every weakness, and send him screaming into the darkness of death at every turn.

The answer lies at the heart of the Labyrinth itself and as Gilad endures a gauntlet of cutting-edge technology and sharpened steel, he ll soon discover why the merciless figure known only as The Dying One has singled the Eternal Warrior out for the ultimate deathtrap.

He will run. He will suffer. And when his ordeal is ended, the Eternal Warrior's place in the Valiant Universe will be forever altered as New York Times best-selling writer Robert Venditt ( Book of Death ) and visionary artists Raúl Allén (Hawkeye) and Juan José Ryp (Clone) unleash an all-new epic for Valiant's Immortal Master of War!

Collecting: Wrath of the Eternal Warrior 5-10

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Superheroes, Comic Book, Science Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2016

About the author

Robert Venditti is a New York Times bestselling author of more than three hundred comic books and graphic novels. Some of his works include the monthly comic book series Justice League, Superman ’78, Hawkman, and Green Lantern for DC Comics, X-O Manowar, Armor Hunters, and Wrath of the Eternal Warrior for Valiant Entertainment, and the graphic novel Six Days, inspired by the story of his uncle’s participation in D-Day. He has also adapted Rick Riordan’s global bestselling Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus novels, as well as Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia and Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz. His graphic novel The Surrogates was adapted into a feature film by Touchstone Pictures, and his work on The Flash was the basis for season three of the CW television series.

Venditti lives in Atlanta, where he both writes and serves as a storytelling consultant for some of the most recognizable entertainment brands in the world.

Reviews

[Judah Radd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fucking amazing.

Even better than the last volume, and that’s saying something! This is such a crazy story, and it gets even crazier. Everything comes together, and I’m so excited for more. Superb.

[C. Varn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Venditti is really good at this kind of book

While removing Gilead's relationship to the geomancer's with his death, a form of a narrative trick tried in the Greg Oak run as well, this run maintains interest. Venditti's mixture of historical sword and sandal epic with high concept sci-fi works here as well and created a compelling antagonist for Gilead. Very enjoyable

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Eternal Warrior isn't as dead as everyone thought he was - actually, he's been kidnapped by a villain literally millennia in the making, and the harrowing experience that The Dying One will put Gilad through will truly invoke the Wrath of the Eternal Warrior.

But first, flashbacks!

Issues 5-6 are a two-part story that tells the tale of Gilad's firstborn son Kalam. Gilad's reluctance to have children is proven well-founded, given the ultimate outcome of the story, but even this far back we can see how dogged he is in his pursuit of both the ones he loves and that the ones that do him wrong.

This extends into the Labyrinth story, where Gilad awakens at the mercy of The Dying One. The villain is pretty faceless for the first few issues, with their ultimate motivation making perfect sense but not really acting as a reveal so much as exposition before the final battle. It's fun to see the gamut of emotion that Gilad goes through here though as he first battles the Labyrinth and then turns the tables. "Wrath of the Eternal Warrior" is a very apt title for this story.

Artwise, we've got Ryp returning for the two part story that opens the volume, complete with googly eyed Attack On Titan-esque humans and far too much blood and guts (even in the scenes that require blood and guts) before Raul Allen returns for the four part Labyrinth story with his trademark flare and innovative use of both panels and sound effects. These issues are a sight to behold, as Gilad's carnage has never been so well captured before.

This volume took me a long time to get through, but that's no comment on its quality, just my lack of commitment. This second volume of the Eternal Warrior's adventures really highlights why only Gilad could live the life of the Fist & Steel, as well as how much that life really takes from him.

[Zare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gilad wakes up in a place he cannot recognize. Having fought through the purgatory to reach the world of the living to defend the Earth once more, not knowing where he is or what is going on is most definitely ruining his overall mood. And you do not want to be there when Gilad's mood is bad.


Story is centered around conflict (one-sided-animosity might be the better expression) between Gilad and the-dying-one, mysterious figure that influenced history for a long time but who needs to switch bodies after dying in his current one in order to continue with his machinations. His quest for ultimate power cause lots of grief to Gilad (although Gilad remained completely unaware of the actual culprit) including the abduction of Gilad's first-born thousands of years ago.

The-dying-one has been around for at least as long as Gilad but requires Gilad's secret that will enable him to reincarnate in the same body every time. And for this Gilad needs to die again and again and again. Unfortunately for our villain Gilad may die many times but he learns his lessons from every death thus coming back stronger and more knowledgeable of the dangers ahead.

Again I like the setting and the story. It has very warhammer-40k-like-vibe to it, immortal people fighting among themselves for a control over the mortal realm, both warlords in their own right with accumulated knowledge of the centuries. One serving Order and wanting to help humanity and other one serving only himself (Chaos) and treating others as nothing more than playthings and expendable tools.

Art is pretty good, especially introduction chapters where Gilad hunts the troops that have killed his wife and abducted his son.



Recommended to fans of stories of wandering warriors, epic saga's and of course Eternal Warrior story line.

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appear to be in the minority of people who've been reading The Wrath Of The Eternal Warrior. I loved the premise of the previous volume, and was very intrigued to see where "Labyrinth" would take the story.

Unfortunately, while I enjoyed the balance of serene family moments and escaping a torturous hellscape in "Risen", I didn't at all care for the melodramatic family tension or the escaping a torturous labyrinth in this volume.

It's tough to write a cool, calculating villain in comics. Their plots need to be incredibly complex, and their intelligence needs to either be absolute genius, if you're going to play the story straight, or incompetent buffon, if you're going for either humor or a Silver Age feel. I found the villain in this book boring. I didn't care about their motivation. I didn't think the labyrinth that they set was at all interesting. And I thought the family aspect fell completely flat.

The art in the fifth issue was such a departure from Valiant's usual style. It had the urgent violence of Crossed, Vol. 1, and the wild movement of James Stokoe. I like it, but I don't think it really fits with the other parts of the series. I also thought this entire issue could have been better served by being just three pages long.

The rest of the Labyrinth story either needed to be longer and show us a more complicated, intriguing labyrinth, or compacted into a single issue. It was precisely the wrong length for the story.

I don't know who to recommend it too, though, again, it seemed to be a big hit with other people reading the story.

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so glad I picked up this series. It's one of the best I've ever read with just the right amount of violent action, familial love, strategic planning, sci-fi and fantasy.

Many years ago, Gilad's son Kalam was stolen by a band of mercenaries. This was apparently ordered by a king so he can have an heir, but in truth the Sovereign is behind the kidnapping. Gilad makes a frontal assault on the king's tower, but the Sovereign escapes with the baby.

Back in the present the Sovereign offers Gilad his freedom if he can complete a labyrinth specifically designed for him. Gilad fails and dies several times, always returning with renewed determination. The Sovereign wants to use the recorded data to learn how Gilad's immortality works, but is unable to do so before Gilad frees himself from his cell. What follows is epic as Gilad makes his way to his captor slowly, but surely, to a fight the Sovereign ultimately gives up, content he will be resurrected in a new body.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prelude to Labyrinth (#5-6). Flashbacks set in the distant past have always been a great component of the stories of the Anna-Padda brothers. This one also nicely dovetails into the backstory of Gilad revealed in the "Risen" arc. Beyond that, it's another strong story about who Gilad is and what he's willing to do, made all the better by its tight two-issue length [5/5].

Labyrinth (#7-10). An adversary tests Gilad in an enormous death maze. This had the potential to be awful, but Venditti carries it off well, telling us what's important and eliding what's not, but not losing any of the epic scope of this struggle in the process. The art in this volume also notches up to be pretty great, thanks in large part to coloring with a carefully controlled palette. Like "Risen" there's not a huge amount of depth to this story, but it's still enthralling [4+/5].

[Xavier Marturet · Rating 4 out of 5]

La saga Laberinto es todo un ejercicio excelente sobre cómo interpretar la inmortalidad de Eternal warrior, así como la presentación de un enemigo a la altura del personaje. El dibujo es excelente y está muy por encima de anteriores dibujantes (quizá a excepción de la serie limitada The Valiant).
Ahora bien, el preludio a la saga son dos números IMPRESIONANTES gracias al dibujo de Juan José RyP.
Definitivamente LO MEJOR que tiene Eternal Warrior hasta la fecha entre todo lo publicado del personaje.

[Stacy Milacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was expecting this story to be good, but this far exceeded my expectations. However, Eternal Warrior seems to pick up many story-lines that never end (maybe because he's eternal). I want to know what happens to the Dying One!

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best volume of the series. Action-packed, and introduces a great new villain!

I read this as part of the complete deluxe edition, which I reviewed in full here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pays off the seeded storyline and the art is even more spectacular.

[José Luis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raúl Allén y Patricia Martín es lo mejor que tiene Valiant y de los mejor que tiene el mundo del cómic en la actualidad.

[M.i. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The labyrinthine feel, depicted by the stunning art work really enhances the puzzle like feel of this book. Pacing and action is also top notch.

[NerdyReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is what Valiant should be. Superbly paced. Good story. Awesome action and art. Fun time.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy moly, the art.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This title really has begun to feel like a self contained arc.

Gilad's history and family explored more in depth.