Knights of the Golden Sun #13

Knights of the Golden Sun #13

Mad Cave Studios 2017

Written by Mark London

Illustrated by Mauricio Villarreal

Lettered by Justin Birch

After Michael's visit to Lucifer and the storming of Babylon by Metatron and his army of Giants, an epic battle ensues between the House of David and the forces of evil hellbent on destroying everything Father has ever created.

There are a few things about this that have impressed me since day one and chief among them is that this is biblical historical fiction. That it doesn’t preach or push any particular way of thinking is a very close second. Now personally I am not up to snuff on the bible, I haven’t read or studied it since I was a teenager, but I do remember the basics and that the Angels are fighting to protect the House of David is definitely something I don't recall. Which in part makes this fiction to me. Now wars have been fought since man was a nomad as they fought for hunting grounds. Land seems to be the most common reason for war and that usually ends up tied into religion somehow so that we see this within these pages it keeps within man’s tradition of fighting. Mark does this amazing job in bringing this world and these factions to life and providing us the reasons for the conflicts which we see.

I am a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to these situations and circumstances which they encounter continues to flesh these characters out beautifully. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story we become a part of the story embroiled in the warring factions and rooting for the outcome.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen is impressively displayed. The layers contain the bulk of the characterisation, the plot twists and so the new and existing avenues that they present add so much great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is exceedingly well achieved.

I love the interiors here. There are telltale signs that tell you that this is computer generated artwork and it’s beautifully done. We see some absolutely lovely linework and with its varying weights and techniques that create this level & quality of detail in the work is really outstanding to see. We see backgrounds being utilised nicely though we could see more of them utilised throughout. How they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is extremely nice to see. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is beautifully rendered. How we see the sky or fire or the points of light that are part of the angels makes what we see that much more impressive.

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This is a great series and it shows man’s penchant for war a lot more than one might expect. Still this is very much a good solid story which comes to life in ways that feels so right. With some really exceptional writing and strong characterisation that are wrapped up in these beautiful interiors we kept enrapt upon the pages waiting to see what is going to happen next. Love, loyalty and friendship are all on display here and there are heartwarming aspects to this story which mix with the heartache and heartbreak that come with war. I highly recommend this series for the pure storytelling aspect of it and how it’s being told.