Is the future really as bleak and dangerous as it looks?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Image:

TOP COW’S HOTTEST CYBORG ASSASSIN RETURNS IN HER OWN SERIES!
Straight out of her Free Comic Book Day first issue debut, the saga of the cyborg assassin Aphrodite IX continues in her first original series in over a decade! Writer MATT HAWKINS (THINK TANK) and artist STJEPAN SEJIC (RAVINE, ARTIFACTS) take you to a dystopian future where technology and evolution have merged and a cyborg killer searching for meaning is the most human individual left!

For those familiar with the original mini-series many of the core mechanics of this green haired beauty are here with some potent additions that simply keep the story fresh.  To the creative team’s credit what they deliver is compelling and despite the depressing view of our future fans are bound to find something to love within the confines of these pages.

The script by Matt Hawkins is a thick experience fraught with questions of morality.  The author delivers a slow saga but when the books calls for it the text falls by the wayside as the actions of our heroine and her antagonists take focal point.  We bare witness to a display of human nature that illustrates our cruelty when pressed by simply turning on a switch and robing an artificial intelligence of her freedom.  We see the depths that we are indeed willing to sink in order to reach our own dark aspirations no matter our intention.

Stjepan Sejic handles the art and the previous illustrator for Artifacts wastes no time showing the versatility of his skill.  Whether he’s using his techniques to display action or an emotion he has the precision to nail the nuanced levels therein.  To a certain amount of detriment the level of detail left a couple moments where some of the facial expressions looked a bit off as forms became far too stoic relinquishing the kinetic feel that had been pervasive in the piece.

Aphrodite IX #2 will please devoted followers and should attract new readers with ease.  Recommended.

4/5