Rating: WORTHY!
I really liked this story. The Mantle is a conveyance of superpowers which are visited upon seemingly random people. The downside of this is that there is a super villain, named The Plague, who immediately starts after the current bearer of the mantle, and destroys them. No one knows why, but it appears to have started thirty eight Mantle-bearers before, when one super hero defeated The Plague and despite being requested to do so by the perp himself, did not kill him. The Plague escaped his imprisonment, and has been punishing mantle-bearers, it would seem, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate him! Why? How did that one hero guy beat The Plague back then, and no one has since?
That's what this graphic novel explores, and even though in many ways this is a very simple story, it still managed to tell it well. I liked the new bearer of the mantle - a feisty young female who after almost giving up, changes her mind, decides she isn't going to run - she's going to go down fighting no matter what. Even though there are other heroes who are pledged to help, she initially finds them of little value, but then she discovers a way - a long shot, but one which might work, and we follow her into this and step by step, slowly learning the truth about what's been going on here. It's a great story, with great graphics, and was thoroughly enjoyable. I consider this a worthy read.
