Wrath of the Eternal Warrior: Labyrinth Part One Review: Torture for the Eternal Warrior

There are some of us who go through our everyday lives, working, running errands, enjoying the company around us. Yet, there is always some unknown enemy. Either that person may be envious of what you have, or they may believe you have something that should be theirs. In the case of the Eternal Warrior he has always known that he has enemies. After all, he’s lived and died over the centuries protecting the geomancers. He would have had to encounter at least a few who oppose his purpose. But what if his enemy has lived nearly as long as Gilad? With this in mind, there have been few constants in Gilad’s comic book history.

The most outstanding one has been an unnamed foe that has been plaguing our hero for hundreds of years. The gender may change, the race and age may be different, however in each incarnation one thing remains, those eyes. Each being of a different color it’s not clear as to why this now old-looking, creepy man has been stalking Gilad for all this time. Perhaps the answers may be in the elaborate trap in part one of the “Labyrinth.”

To say that Robert Venditti has been putting the Eternal Warrior through hell in this ongoing monthly would be a kindness. A fighter is at his most vulnerable when he lacks information on his opponent. And Gilad has no clue about anything. He reverts back to what he knows best, but there are some situations you can’t fight your way out of. At this moment Gilad needs to be the thinking warrior and throw some facts at his predicament. Who is holding him? Why was he moved? What’s his enemy’s purpose and what does he want?

If you know anything about the Valiant universe then you know that Gilad is a survivor. He’s still protecting the geomancers in 4001 AD. As old and ragged looking as he is in that new series he’s still fighting. What makes issue 7 intriguing is how does he get out of the situation he’s in now? Venditti has written a Houdini type caper, only in this case Houdini is blind, has no limbs and seems to have forgotten how to pick a lock. Still, there has to be an endgame here. Or at the very least a part two. That’s the best part about seeing the life of an immortal, you become invested in the life he’s lived. His enemies become yours, his cause must be the right one and his opponents must be at least equally as interesting. The “mismatched eyes” of this current bad guy should unfold a wealth of storytelling opportunities.