Rogue Sun #16 Review

Rogue Sun #16 Review

“Well…shit.”

We’re going to need another Owen! This comment echoes a humorous skit from my favorite childhood television series, Dinosaurs, that imitates a morbid version of Bill Nye’s The Science Guy with an adult twist. It’s inappropriately used here because fans of the Rogue Sun series are either going to feel mixed emotions or feel no remorse for the death of a notable character in issue sixteen. Unfortunately, for the martyr, we can’t get another Owen, but at least he was able to redeem the good parts of himself by handing Marcus his sunstone in time for him and Owen’s grandson, Dylan, to teleport to the core.

“There are forces at work beyond your understanding.”

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m an infant strolling through a zombie-infested Atlanta city, so I do apologize for not intellectually connecting the dots for you guys this time around. That’s why we all have YouTube, yeah? Even though I had no knowledge of this series other than it was created by Ryan Parrott (Power Rangers) and Abel Marco Renna (Aspen Comics), I could still catch an idea of what’s ongoing and what’s happened.

Through the power of dialogue, I’ve surmised that Marcus has fallen prisoner to like-minded Rogue Suns who have a different opinion of how the forces of light should be fighting evil. I’m particularly fond of Parrott’s dive into the ancient history of Cleopatra, creatively connecting the history of her death to the failure of Asim’s legacy. This avenue in history has been visited so many times before in other works, but I’m a history guy and thought the gesture was a nice show of versatility in the series.

I love the mixture of supernatural elements that the Rogue Sun family possesses that gives them the ability to protect or fight villains like Killswitch or Charon. What’s clear here in issue sixteen is that Rune needs Marcus and Dylan to fulfill his own delusions of grandeur that all Rogue Suns can unify under one banner led by his truly. Ryan tackles the question most hero stories need to cross when writing about heroes, which is: how far does being good take you before the line gets crossed?

I remember such a famous line being stated by ‘The White Knight of Gotham City’ during Batman: The Dark Knight, featuring actor Aaron Eckhart: “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” What an epic line, and one that most heroes’ stories end up having to face. Is Rune experiencing this reality for himself? The good bad guys usually never think they are the bad guys.

If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead, then you’ll see the war between Rick and Niegan and explore that very concept. It was some of the best writing in human history next to Kane and Abel. 

The battles of the Rogue Sun family against the acting Rogue Sun and his new pantry of rogue villains aren’t concluded in this issue, which beacons us with questions that issue seventeen will hope to answer. Or will it just leave us with more questions? Certainly, neither Rune nor Asim will take these recent actions lightly and will be out to reclaim Dylan and Marcus. I dipped my toes into this review with mystique and intrigue and have walked away with fan chills.

As I hear it, Rogue Sun is but a blip of the Massive Verse yet to be discovered, so if you’d like to endeavor into a new comic with an expansive and ever-growing pantheon of stories and interesting characters, then this title is for you. Don’t forget to support your local comic store or visit your favorite artists and creators at cons. As always, stay geeky, share the network, and don’t forget to catch me on the latest episode of Comics’N’Poptarts. I have an awesome episode that features Mat Groom, a writer, as a part of Massive Verse’s success. Go check it out!