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Mummy, The: Palimpsest #3
Released by: Titan Comics
Released on: January 25th, 2017.
Written by: Peter Milligan
Illustrated by: Ronilson Freire
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“Having escaped from the insidious clutches of the Sect of Annubis, Angel now finds herself lost and alone on the streets of London, as she struggles to overcome the burgeoning power of the ancient Egyptian Priestess Nebulah's soul as it fights for control of her mind. Meanwhile the Sect of Annubis and the Pyramid Club race against time to find her before the other can. For the Sect of Annubis, failure to find Angel will mean their most violent deaths at the hands of Ammit, the demon dog, while for the Pyramid Club, their failure could result in something far, far worse...â€
The third issue starts off in Luxor, Egypt in 1880. Here a group of do-gooders led by Lord Mather and The Duke Of Clarence interrupt the ancient rite of Palmipsest wherein a group of men in the garb of the ancient Egyptians were set to sacrifice a woman to finalize their sinister plans. Much to the dismay of cult leader Kharis, high priest of Amun, the armed Englishmen put a stop to it just in time. They then learn that Kharis, who admits he fears he will soon be destroyed by Ammit The Eater Of Souls, is three thousand years old - maybe there's something to this Palimpsest after all - the key to immortality!
Cut to the London of the modern day. Clearly having partaken of Kharis' secrets, Mather oversees a ritual where he and his brethren engage in The Prayer Of Returning, pleading with the priestess Nebetah to hear their pleas. Elsewhere, Angel wanders the streets alone and confused as she passes through the land of the dead. The Pyramid Club's Duncan Clarke finds her, much to the delight of Michael and Calverly. Duncan manages to break Angel's link with Nebetah, while unbeknownst to Mather and the members of the Sect of Anubis Clarence has put into play a plan B that involves the kidnapping of the Egyptian Ambassador to England. His plan is to hold the Ambassador hostage in exchange for the Pyramid Club - who are arguing amongst themselves over what to do - handing over Angel/Nebetah. Mather, however, would prefer to rely on the old ways… on magic. As Duncan runs off with Angel, he explains that the group of archeologists from the opening scene in 1880 split off into two groups - the Cult Of Anubis bent on achieving immortality, and the Pyramid Club who were bent on stopping them.
And then they run into a monster called The Ammit, while elsewhere Mather awakens the mummified corpse of Kharis… and he's not happy with the turn of events that has transpired since their first meeting in 1880.
Milligan's story is building to something big here, the various plot threads of the first two issues now nicely taking shape and becoming a cohesive whole. If you wondered why so much was happening in the first two chapters, well, this third installment starts to bring it all together in a big way. Needless to say, with a writer like Milligan on board it'll be interesting to see where it goes from here. It is now starting to feel like a 'mummy story' rather than a mix of supernatural horror and action with some ancient Egyptian leanings - and that's a good thing for sure, given that this does indeed carry the Hammer brand. There are some fun twists in this issue, and some welcome background information on both sides of this conflict help to get us more in line with Angel's plight. Nicely done on the writing front. As to the art? Ronilson Freire, with coloring courtesy of Ming Sen and Dijjo Lima, does a fine job here. There's good movement and action, the creature and mummy designs show good detail and the human element is illustrated in such a way that we understand and feel their emotions and conflicts.
In the back pages of this issue we get an essay on the history of the Hammer film The Mummy's Shroud along with some cool archival images courtesy of Hammer's official historian, Marcus Hearn alongside a cover gallery showing off the three different flavors available for this third issue.
