Aphrodite IX: The Hidden Files #1 Review

By Harrison Rawdin on Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014

With all the monthly books on the average pull-list, do fans really need to dig in and pick up this release? Read on to find out.

The official description:

PEEK INTO THE PROPRIETARY BLACK BOX OF APHRODITE’S MIND!

The cybernetic assassin Aphrodite IX has survived the rise and fall of countless civilizations. What sacrifices and tragedies has she seen that have been erased from her memory?

The property originally created by David Finch and David Wohl has undergone an evolutionary process. With the company line rebirth back in 2012 and thanks to this latest creative team, clear changes have set in that have some stark implications for the title. This right here is a primmer of that narrative, and it was in need of explanation. So grab a seat, sit back and prepare for a bombardment of knowledge.

Matt Hawkins with Ryan Cady work to show us the basics of the Aphrodite Protocol, in other words for the low price of $2.99 we get to see how the world changes over the course of a deliberate corporate strategy that spans nine hundred years. The two authors unload details that allow intersections which highlight bits of data from other titles, such as Artifacts and Cyber Force. The end result is a welcome concoction that kept me entertained, but I did find certain points a bit confusing. Although I imagine that had more to do with the precision of this whole concept than with any functional flaws.

Stjepan Sejic handles the art for this outing. And once again I found his illustrations to be more than inviting, but a considerable amount of the work on display were borrowed images from either prior issues or other Top Cow titles. Visually this release worked but, for me, I wanted to see the talent tackle new renditions especially of objects featured in the sister books along this line. Even so the bulk of the work was functional and pleasing to look at.

Aphrodite IX: The Hidden Files #1 is something that fans need to buy in order to fully understand just what’s going within this shared universe. Recommended.