The penultimate issue, Glory #33 definitely packs a lot. Whether its action, drama, suspense or just about anything else, Glory #33 delivers with its usual colorful and detailed art style and writing. Throw in an ending that makes sure you want to pick up the final issue, and Glory #33 is one of the better issues in its run.

The official description from Image:

The penultimate issue of ROSS CAMPBELL and JOE KEATINGE ‘s GLORY saga ties threads together from its very beginning amidst the most brutal war Glory has ever fought.

Destinies will be realized. Lives will be destroyed. The end begins here.

Glory #33 moves very quickly. From quick introductions the real fight quickly begins. There’s a strong sense of doom and hopelessness prevalent in these pages. The artwork is very good at conveying this, with the darker color schemes and splashes of bright, bloody red. There’s internal conflicts between various characters, and more than one character meets their end. Some of these deaths are quick. Whilst some might want to stop and mourn each loss, this is a very frantic action scene, and the writing knows when to keep the pace going instead.

One of the downsides, if one has to be found and highlighted, is the expanded cast from the greater Image universe. Whilst its rewarding for fans of other Image titles, and there are certainly a lot of titles depicted or refereed to here, it arguably gets in the way. Glory has focused on such a smaller cast, such as the dynamic between Glory and Riley, or Glory and Nanaja. Besides Glory and Riley, a lot of this small cast get lost in the bigger crowd. It also makes the final battle seem less of a “fight to the death”. No matter how much the artwork or story sets the tone, I can’t help but think “hang on, you’ve got a crap-load of superheroes there!”. If there effect is this little, could the story of been told without cramming them all in?

However, despite the action, fighting and large scale story-telling at work, the ending of Glory #33 is what really sets it apart. Glory has always had some very personal themes between its smaller cast and, whilst being distracted at points with this much more larger cast, still knows when to reel it in for extra impact. The dialogue is well written and fluid, demonstrating a key understanding of the characters its conveying.

The artwork itself is also stunning, the final pages contrasting between bright reds, whites and blacks to add extra emotion and depth to a very, very satisfying issue.

4.5/5