Review – Dark Engine #2 (Image Comics)

Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Ryan Burton
Artist: John Bivens
Release Date: 20th August 2014

If, in order to save something precious to you, you had to create something unnatural and violent, would you be able to do it? That is one of the questions at the heart of Dark Engine. In order for the Alchemists to save their world, they must create Sym – the female embodiment of the Dark Engine and a singular violent killing machine. Sym is created and sent back in time to destroy everything in her path in an attempt to change the outcome of the future where she was created. However, as with any story of this type, complications inevitably arise and Sym isn’t sent back to where she was supposed to be, and finds herself cutting her way through time and being viewed by those who have the unfortunate chance to see her as either divine… or worse.

Ryan Burton has created a very interesting concept here. It has elements of fantasy with the alchemists and creatures – not to mention the character of Sym, an inherent evil created out of necessity – but it also has some action/adventure moments, and even some science fiction traits with its time travel. I find the writing to be well thought out, but can’t help but feeling that almost seems to be more geared toward a trade read than an issue-to-issue read. The concept of time and location gets somewhat muddled occasionally; for instance, I couldn’t tell if at the end of this issue Sym had jumped ahead in time again or if she was still in the same era as she went from being with Egyptian people to what appear to be Vikings. That being said, it still makes for an exciting read, but you may find yourself just a little confused until the next issue drops. There is a lot of lore being developed in these first few issues, with who and what Sym really is, why she was created, and the creatures that inhabit the world that she has been created to save. So while in some ways it is building at a slower pace than some people may enjoy, at the same time it is building my own anticipation of seeing just how the story pans out and what the Dark Engine truly is.

John Bivens has created some truly stunning artwork for this series. The creatures are violent whether they are on the enormous side or the smaller scale and Sym is graceful yet lethal. The movement created in the fight scenes is intense and it feels as though the battles were happening right in front of your eyes. The world he is visually creating is hard to describe in words, being as there are many settings from the Sporelands and the Alchemists immense tower to the different time periods and locations of Sym’s travel. Bizens truly has been given the creative freedom to do what he wants, and in truth, he uses this freedom to his advantage and creates some fantastic visual story telling.

Rating: 3/5

The writer of this piece was: Shane Hoffman (aka “Hoff”)
You can also find Hoff on Twitter.