The Infinite Horizon #5

Written by Gerry Duggan
Art by Phil Noto

You know, when a comic hasn't been published since the spring of 2009, it's not a bad idea to include a recap page at the front.  I mean, Marvel does this even on comics that come out every second week (of which they publish way too many), yet with this book, which I didn't expect to ever see again, we are tossed back into the story with no real reminders as to what was going on.

The thing is, that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the comic in the least.  The Infinite Horizon is a reinterpretation of the Odyssey, yet set in the near future.  Our Odysseus remains unnamed, and he has been working his way home after finishing his time in some war on foreign soil.  Things have more or less broken down around the world - there doesn't seem to be any kind of reliable air transport, communication is almost non-existent, and the government of the United States has failed.  Our hero's contingent of soldiers has been whittled away through their journey, and when this issue begins, our hero is left with two women in a village not far from the sea.

He chooses to answer the call of some sirens, who are luring people to the shore with the promise of a journey on a large tanker being retrofitted into a modern ark.  The problem is that the people in charge are only looking for slaves.  When our hero meets up with his friend Fortunato, who I vaguely remember as having gone ahead while our man recovered from some injuries, they decide to take control of the tanker, and the oil rig that guards it.

This is a great comic.  I have enjoyed it from the start (however many years ago that was), and found that once again, it balances suspense and action with its classical origins very nicely.  Duggan (who I remain unfamiliar with) writes this book very well, but the star of the show is Phil Noto, who makes it look wonderful.

Apparently the next issue is scheduled to come out in November, and I believe that it's really going to happen.  There is no sense in recommending this comic to new readers now, but I do encourage people to pick up the trade.  Reading this gives me hope that I may soon be able to read more Pirates of Coney Island, Gutsville, and The Great Unknown.  Even one of them would be great.