City of Heroes (2005 Series) #14

June 22, 2006

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Awakenings Part Two

The Circle of Thorns’ latest plot will need a world of heroes to thwart!

Writer: David Wohl
Pencils: Roman Cliquet
Inks: Blond
Colors: Blond
Letters: Troy Peteri
Cover Art: Rodolfo Migliani
Publisher: Image Comics/Top Cow

A prison breakout in Brickstown brings the Freedom Phalanx together with Foreshadow and his visiting heroes from Asia. While the heroes are stopping the breakout, though, the Circle of Thorns is gathering the elements it needs to bring Hell to Earth.

As always, the fun of this comic is watching the heroes undertake missions you yourself may have taken as a player in the video game. The climactic confrontation with the Circle is a perfect example – we watch the heroes meet a contact, descend into the Circle’s caverns, wait while one of their number turns the others invisible… all elements that translate perfectly from the game to the comic.

The big problem with this issue is the artwork. Roman Cliquet’s style isn’t as clean or clear as we usually get with this comic – the pages are very inconsistent and Blond’s inking is far too heavy in many scenes, while the faces are too light and ill-defined in others. It’s not terrible, but the artwork in this series is usually far better.

The comic still gives you a really great feel for the game, but this isn’t that strong an issue. Hopefully the next issue, or the next arc, will get back on track.

Rating: 7/10