The cosmic Quartet begins to master their jaw-dropping powers and unlock deeper meanings to their newfound abilities in Psi-Lords #3!

Dangerous aliens have targeted the Quartet, and they’ll stop at nothing until they’ve eliminated the team.

Plus, the lost history of the Psi-Lords revealed?!

Finally. After three issues, the series has finally clicked for me.

After some misgivings with how writer Fred Van Lente was pacing the story, I’m finally on the same wavelength. I’m close enough to appreciate what he’s been doing with the series right under my bloody nose since the first issue.

Van Lente has taken a breather from the breakneck pace he’s been using so far. In so doing he reveals a lot more about the setting that we find ourselves in, and the Psi-Lords themselves.

And as he does this, and as I was reading it, I realized that I needed to go back and reread the previous issues. It was then that I realized that my earlier assessment, and review scores, would be different (in a good way) had I read the first few issues in one go. But that, alas, is not how monthly series work. We can only judge a story one installment at a time – which isn’t ideal when the whole is often a step above its parts.

So yes, Van Lente and Psi-Lords have won me over (which doesn’t surprise me, but I’m still happy about it).

The exposition, and the time to truly get to know the four characters is well spent and set against some of the most wonderfully colourful imagery that truly gives the book an epic feel.

You’ll notice that I’ve focused primarily on the writing so far. That’s because Renato Guedes is so close to flawless (again) that I’m left almost at a loss for words. His grasp of visual storytelling, the use of colour and panel set up… it would be enough for me to recommend the book alone. But this issue, with the story clicking for me, I finally realize just how bloody brilliant this book actually looks.

These pages wouldn’t look out of place in the Louvre. My feelings about comic book art being in a museum aside, these pages could easily stand next to classical art and grab the world by the collar and demand attention.

Psi-Lords #3 was easily the best issue so far. Not only was it really good, but the clarity it provides on the previous issues cannot be understated. As I said last month, this is going be an absolute must-read story. Keep your eye on this one.

Story: Fred Van Lente
Art: Renato Guedes Letters: Dave Sharpe
Story: 8.2 Art: 9.4 Overall: 8.8 Recommendation: Read

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

After an explosive escape from a cosmic prison, Psi-Lords #2 has the team of amnesiac astronauts needing to find a way home!

But where is the ship that brought them here in the first place? And just who are these Psi-Lords they keep hearing about?

It’s a deadly scavenger hunt around the Gyre in search of a way back home. But, this cosmic ring of decaying ships hides many threats within its aging walls!

You know those stories that don’t start at the beginning, but instead begin closer to the middle and fill in the blanks through dialogue, flashbacks and things like that? Welcome to Psi-Lords. A series that features four humans of varying nationalities who wake up in deep space with no memory and with some awesome new powers as they try to figure out who they are and how they can get home.

The characters’ lack of memory plays well into the story. Though there hasn’t been much revealed about how their story began, that doesn’t seem to matter. The reader begins to discover the same little nuggets about the character origins as the characters do. Plotwise it makes for a good way to trickle the origin in with the main flow of the story. It prevents interrupting the story with flashbacks that end up revealing too much too fast.

Psi-Lords #2 is a step up from the previous issue. Writer Fred Van Lente has a more concise story to tell that has a much smoother flow. Although this isn’t one of Van Lente’s better comics, it no longer has the missteps of the first issue when it comes to the pace and plot points. There’s still room for improvement but this issue is better in terms of how the story moves along. There’s also a wonderfully dry comment about the nature of the amnesia the characters are dealing with that made me laugh more than it probably should have.

Once again, Renato Guedes is utterly phenomenal on artistic duties. The otherworldly elements and oddly adorable yet kind of creepy alien species introduced in the book. For the second time this series, Guedes elevates this comic into one you have to spend time with to truly drink in all the details on the pages in your hand. His art has a wonderful feel that does more to place the comic away from Earth than you may initially give credit for as the colours and soft edges pull you into the far reaches of space.

Psi-Lords #2 is a step above the previous issue. If it keeps trending this way then it’s going be an absolute must-read within a couple of issues. Keep your eye on this one.

Story: Fred Van Lente
Art: Renato Guedes Letters: Dave Sharpe
Story: 6.8 Art: 9.0 Overall: 7.8 Recommendation: Read

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

The Psi-Lords make their debut in the modern-era Valiant Universe in a brand-new ongoing series! 

But WHO are they? And where they heck are they?! Prepare for a cosmic adventure like no other! Seriously, it’s wild stuff.

Psi-Lords was teased in a Free Comic Book Day issue from… oh, at least a couple of years ago, now. To say that fans have been waiting a long time for the comic is a bit of an understatement. Having never read the original Valiant 90s series, I have no reference for comparison. I approached this with the expectation that all I need to know to enjoy the comic will be within.

The book opens with four individuals in a high tech, or potentially alien, prison with little to no idea who they are. Guided by a disembodied voice, the four discover they have incredible powers, and may even be gods. What follows is a strangely disjointed prison escape tale. that is little more than a couple of key moments surrounded by cliche designed to further the plot. And that’s the major gripe with this comic – it feels too much like Fred Van Lente is trying to get to a certain point that he’s moving the comic quickly while trying to provide some context, and it doesn’t work. Psi-Lords #1 is certainly not one of the writer’s finest works.

It isn’t quite clear what level of amnesia the characters have, nor why they only remember they have powers once they’re told about them – I’m willing to give the series the benefit of the doubt for another issue or two, but the writing doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.

Thankfully, Renato Guedes is able to carry the load with some utterly phenomenal art. At the very least you need to see this book to believe it – it is breathtaking to watch Guedes navigate the characters through the unfamiliar environs and stark halls, the explosive action sequences leap from the page and pull your eyes into a comic you may have been otherwise tempted to ignore.

Psi-Lords #1 doesn’t require any real knowledge of the original series, but the plot doesn’t really stand out either. It’s a comic that is visually fantastic, but with a plot that barely rises above average. Whether it’s worth reading is up to you, but for me it wasn’t worth the wait.

Story: Fred Van Lente
Art: Renato Guedes Letters: Dave Sharpe
Story: 6.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 7.1 Recommendation: Read

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review