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Released by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: May 7, 2014
Opening as part 1 of a 5-part series titled Meta Human this issue drops some serious plot twist bombs, making it an impressive opening salvo.
Faustus and his fellow Victories gather after finding clues from Metatron's trail to the Stones, an ancient place where The Visitors first bestowed super-powers to humans. But before they can chase down that story they see a broadcast of another of their number named Strike who, along with some regular humans and hybrids knows as Jackals, is taking up arms against the new police state they find themselves in.
But, as those with Faustus point out, all the unrest and big disasters were done by Metatron's sponsors as part of a massive power grab. That doesn't matter much to them, though, when the police open fire on Strike and his group, killing the Victory team member and many others. As soon as that happens Faustus and the others arrive and Faustus pretty much loses it, killing all the armed forces assembled. He's only stopped in this losing battle by the arrival of one of their enemy, by the name of Bacchus, who tells them they're now all in this fight together. He also gives them a chance to escape.
After the battle and they're re-grouping Faustus learns that Chelsea, the Lady Dragon, fellow team member, is apparently his half-sister. This gets explained to him as something that came up during the other Victories' investigations. Faustus is enraged and goes back to his place, remember what he and the Lady Dragon once shared and how awful this news is to him…
Meanwhile, Chelsea has returned to her father's team, the Powers, in an attempt to turn the tide of the battle. But, as it's revealed, their intentions might not be as honorable as she thinks since they're needing her (and possibly Faustus, now) for their “ascension†ceremony wherein they will meet the original Visitors once again and hopefully prove their worth…
This issue also includes a short story written by Oeming about a “float†dealer, the deadly drug that the survivors on Earth are using to cope with their world ending. The side effects of the drug, though, mess with users' DNA and also make them literally float. This dealer is named Steve and he has the last bit of pure float that he's darned sure not going to share with some drug addicts. It gets to the point that he escapes their attack by hanging onto them out his window, floating to the roof and then letting them go. But a timely intervention by Sai, one of the Victories, saves them and convinces Steve there are ways he could be helping humanity instead. It's a neat little side story and the artwork from Agnes Garbowska is wonderfully playful.
Michael Avon Oeming's story gets into a dark, tricky place now, raising the stakes for everyone across the board in ways you couldn't see coming. He's been quite good thus far at detailing the cost of super-powers and this story keeps that investigation at the fore in very real, emotional terms.
