#ray lai

(July 2000)

Written by Barbara Randall Kesel

Pencils by Ben Lai

Inks by Ray Lai

Colours by Wil Quintana

Letters by Dave Lanphear

(Note: the writer of this comic was born Barbara Randall, and after her marriage to Karl Kesel used the professional name Barbara Kesel, which is how she is credited in this comic and, I believe, everything published by CrossGen. However, she has since gotten divorced, and last I saw was using Barbara Randall Kesel as her professional name, so that is what I will be calling her.)

So here we are at the launch of CrossGen's second series, Sigil. I'm not sure why they decided to call it that, as Sigils are a major part of all of their books, not just this one. Oh well.

This one is intriguing right off the bat, as it takes place in a sci-fi corner of the universe, with interstellar travel and multiple races and such. (I'm curious to see whether future issues explain how this relates to the non-spacefaring planets of the CrossGen universe. Do they have some kind of Prime Directive that keeps them from contacting them? Or are they just geographically isolated in their own section of space or something?)

So it appears that there is a union of human worlds, and a rival faction of reptiloids known as Saurians. We are informed early on that the two powers are on the brink of war. This issue is set on Tanipal, a waystation frequented by members of both species, which seems to give off a vibe of Mos Eisley: The Planet.

Our protagonists are Samandahl Rey ("Sam") and Roiya, two... freighters? Mercenaries? Honestly, it's not super clear WHAT they do, other than that they are "between jobs" at the moment.

Sam makes some money by playing Pseudosaurs, wherein people take psychic control of lower-order dino-things and make them gruesomely fight to the death. Pro tip: if you want the audience to like your protagonist, don't have them participating in bloodsports literally one page after their introduction. I get that they're trying to present him as rogueish, rough-around-the-edges type, but this is a bit much. Not really the kind of thing I can see, like, Han Solo doing.

While Sam does that, Roiya flirts with a dude and makes a dinner date with him.

Scene then shifts to the palace of Sultan Rotolo, ruler of Talipan.

He once had some sort of exclusive trade deal with the human planets, which has since lapsed, and they've sent a rep to convince him to renew it. The Sultan is reluctant, as he enjoys the freedom of being able to trade with both sides. However, this negotiation is cut short when the Sultan notices that one of his harem has gone missing.

Coincidentally, just at that moment Sam has bumped into a mysterious, beautiful woman who appears to be in disguise.

Before he can say more than a few words to her, the authorities bust in, announcing that Zanniati, one of the Sultan's wives, has been kidnapped, and the spaceport is now on high alert.

And THEN, if that's not enough, a group of Saurians burst upon the scene and declare their intent to kill Sam, saying they have been sent by someone named Tchlusarud, who Sam has history with. Presumably we will learn this story in future issues. (Roiya complains about Sam getting "all the credit," insisting she is just as deserving of Tchlusarud's wrath.)

A buncha things happen very quickly: Zanniati gets her hands on a big fuckin gun and joins the fight, Sam is pulled aside by a mysterious figure who imprints him with the titular Sigil (right across his chest!), and Roiya is impaled by one the Saurians, who is promptly blown away by Zanniati.

Roiya is alive, but gravely injured. Sam needs to get her back to their ship's medical facilities in order to have any hope of saving her life. The guy she was supposed to have a date with (who still hasn't been named, unless I'm missing something) reappears seemingly out of nowhere, revealing himself to be a local security officer ("Although I'm in the process of executing my sudden resignation.") who uses his security ID to bypass all the lockdowns and get them back to the ship.

After that... it's not super clear what happens? Roiya appears to die on the operating table, Sam's new Sigil-powers cause some sort of an explosion... and then the issue just kind of ends.

I get that it's supposed to be a cliffhanger, but I feel like it would be more effective if the audience had a clearer idea of what was happening. And I feel like that sums up a lot of what I think is wrong with this comic.

Pros always tell aspiring comic artists: focus on drawing SEQUENCES, not just pin-ups. Because being able to draw good is only half the battle in comics. You've also got to be able to clearly convey story and action from panel to panel. And I feel like the storytelling in this comic is just not up to snuff. Lai's compositions are often overly crowded, his panel-to-panel continuity of frequently unclear, and Quintana's muted coloring doesn't help matters. And maybe this is just a nitpick, but Sam and Roiya's nameless (?) date look way too similar to each other. In short, there several points in this comic where I had a bit of trouble following what was going on.

I didn't talk much about the art in Mystic in my last post, but you can really see the difference. Brandon Peterson had been drawing comics professionally for years, and his storytelling is miles clearer than that of the Lai brothers, who were promising newbies that CrossGen snapped up. Their heavily anime-influence style may be pretty to look at, but their storytelling needs practice. I'll be interested to see if I notice improvement over the course of this series (although I'm actually not sure how long they stick around for.)

Crossgen Primer (Wizard Exclusive Edition) (2000)

All art by:

Radix #2