Writer – John Warner, Val Mayerik
Artist – Val Mayerik
Inker – Al Williamson
Colours – Phil Rachelson
Letters – John Costanza
The second-to-last issue of the series sees N’Kantu thinking back once again to the past, thoughts of his tribe on his mind once more and this time it is of the moment when he returned to the village one day to find everyone missing. It is that moment when he discovered the Egyptians kidnapping his entire tribe including himself after a bit of rebellion that he reflects upon for in the present, the story reminds him of the hope he had when he led them in revolt, something he might be able to do for the people of Cairo against the Elementals. Plans are made to find Dr. Skarab as the man himself is off testing the contentious gem called the Ruby Scarab in order to discover why it does not do what history has said that it can. Eventually, The Living Mummy and the former villain Zephyr discover the whereabouts of the good doctor and of course, they end up meeting a bit of resistance though they are just men and not equal to the task of defeating the heroes of the tale. Elsewhere, the rest of the companions which include The Asp among them are doing the exact same thing and so it is that the book is filled with action amongst the drama and emotions that fill each page of the book. War is a cruelty that never seems to stay away for long and it has found itself amongst the streets of Cairo thanks to those called Hellfire, Hydron and Magnum as they try to cement their rule. Taking over the scripting duties for this issue is John Warner who continues to follow in Tony Isabella’s footsteps with a little help from Val Mayerik and while he does a good job of it, the book being a good read, the horror that was once seen in the pages of this title remains elusive, if not lost. N’Kantu is but a soldier in this book, much like Janice and Ron, The Asp, Olddan and Zephyr and even Dr. Skarab as they seek to overcome the forces which have trapped them and the rest of the city in a force field. All pretense of people even being scared or intimidated by N’Kantu has been left by the wayside and it is a shame as the book used to be far better than it is now, catering to its title by featuring the supernatural. At the end of the day, it was a decent excursion but continues to leave readers unfulfilled.
3 out of 5
Categories: Comics, Issue by Issue