Here are the basic ingredients of Michael Avon Oeming’s The Victories: a pinch of X-Statix, a dash of Marvelman, a touch of Powers, and, well…torrents of blood. While normally I wouldn’t expect all these elements to play so well together, Oeming somehow keeps pulling it off. And believe it not, Victories is quickly become a series that shouldn’t be missed.

Here’s the official description from Dark Horse:

An alien invasion, an airborne flesh-eating disease, and an onslaught of death brought forth by the bull-horned cannibal known as Tarcus are just a few of the many deadly plans the mysterious cabal known as the Advisors have set loose against our heroes.

My biggest concern about The Victories has always been that it’s trying to do too much at once — it’s a team book, an occasional solo-book, a post-apocalyptic vision of the future AND a quasi critique of corporate America. And then, suddenly, with issue #3 Oeming adds another wrinkle: a quest for lost identity, as Metatron seeks to unpack his past. And while the cynical part of me keeps waiting for at least one of these elements to crash and burn, Oeming has gotten pretty damn good at keeping these various balls up in the air.  And in a way that is both entertaining and compelling. Issue #3 is no exception.

If all this weren’t enough, issue #3 also brings us the first real introduction of the Jackal, a character that previous issues have referenced, but never pushed forward in such a grisly way. Of all the basic ingredients Oeming’s already been adding to this plot, it looks like blood will be the biggest dose coming up in issue #4.

Oeming’s art is strong in Victories #3. While I’ve always been a fan of his illustrations, there are some stunning panels here that demonstrate a bit more care than some of his previous issues –especially with Metatron, and especially when rendering this flagship character in flight. The result is simply beautiful, adding both depth and moments of transcendence to the story.

 The Victories continues to impress, and surprise. While there are occasional moments of overly Bendis-inspired dialogue, its clear that Oeming is taking special care to deliver characters that are uniquely his own. And it’s working.

5/5