A welcome return of one of the best series presently on the stands or anywhere else. Maika and her companions awaken after being gone from their world for about a year to find that the Lord Doctor has unleashed a war of annihilation on the world using Zinn. There is a lot of catching up to do and the reader is plunged right back into the complexity of the universe that Liu has built. It is an immersive and almost overwhelming experience but foreshadows a truly epic story to come. As usual, the Doctor seems five steps ahead of everyone. Maika rediscovers an old friend she has not seen since her childhood. The cats who came back from the prison world of the old gods are discovering for themselves how primitive their world has become. Poignantly, Maika continues to talk in her head to her lost love, Tuya, even as she plans to murder her former lover and betrayer for what she has done. The art, as always, is breathtaking. A truly phenomenal opening chapter in another epic story arc.

Another excellent edition in one of the most consistently excellent series available. This issue is deep in lore, advancing numerous plotlines and character development. It is too rich in these developments for everything to be processed in a single reading. SPOILERS/RECAP - It starts with Zinn, trapped in the Doctor's prison, somehow hearing Kippa's proclamation of love from the last issue. Hearing the voice of the little fox gives Zinn more will to live and to try to hold out for when he might be rescued. We see the Doctor speaking to Seizi, underlining that he knows that Maika will come for him to reclaim the power/gain the freedom of Zinn, but also to free Seizi out of love.It goes to Maika meeting with the mysterious Wave Court, which has been ordered to offer refuge to those fleeing the devastation on the mainland by the even more mysterious Wave Empress. We see Ren meeting with the had of a cat temple where we finally learn what has been happening in the time that our heroes were away/asleep in the prison of the Elder Gods. The Blood Court of the Doctor apparently formed an alliance with the Dusk and Dawn Courts to push back the Cumaea. Then Zinn appeared, controlled by the Doctor, and the Dusk and Dawn Courts went into hiding, apparently benefiting from a treaty with the Doctor. Now, the Doctor and the Monster have been slaughtering Arcanics and humans. Ren is given a clue as to what happened to the World Walkers and goes off to find them working in a shop chopping fish. We see Kippa in a dream, where she speaks to (probably) the Wave Empress, who encourages her and says that "small fish become titans who remake worlds". Kippa has a vision of Maika wearing the mask and wielding Zinn, but little Maika appears to tell her that she (Maika) and the mask are not what they appear. Finally, we enter Maika's dream, where she finds Zinn chained by the Doctor. Zinn warns her it is a trap and that he can only hide her from the Doctor briefly. He also tells her to tell Kippa that he heard her as the prison grows dark with the coming of the Doctor. Again, this issue is rife will enormous character development and advancement of the plot. The cats have learned that the Doctor can only control Zinn for short times and that it exhausts him. We learned the Maika rampaged through the Dusk Court - more on that will be in the next issue, where the Wolf Queen and the Beast, Maika's possible sister, are on the cover. The mystery of Kippa deepens. What powers does she have, what role does she have to play, and who are the "sisters" of the Wave Empress that are speaking of her? Zinn even reveals to Maika that he thinks the Doctor's feelings about Maika are more complex than she realizes. The art, as always, is fantastic. The almost full page depiction of Maika and Zinn in Kippa's dream is particularly good. In recapping this, the depth of the story becomes more apparent. The next issue, with the return of the Wolf Queen and the Beast, should be great!

Another fantastic issue of a fantastic series. The last arc, as good as it was, felt a bit rushed and difficult to follow at times. This arc is off to a riveting start. Every issue delivers enormous amounts of content, adds to the overall mystery and questions, and even resolves or at least complicates existing relationships and animating themes. This particular issue is even richer than most. It has so much going on that it is hard to keep track of everything but never in a bad way. We find out what happened to Tuya's child clone, Yuta. We learn about a relationship that Maika has that she did not even know about, but which discerning readers realized some time ago. We learn a bit more about the complexity of the politics in the Spice Islands, especially now that the Federation survivors have sought refuge there. We discover how Maika, Ren and Kippa ended up in the Spice Islands and who got them there. And Kippa, getting ever more mysterious, has a fateful encounter with a somewhat familiar being and an encounter with someone else whose existence has been an animating force behind the story of the series from the get-go. We even almost find out who the mysterious being who blessed Kippa may have been - but not quite! The story also provides interesting details. For example, in one scene, Maika and Sauri share a drink, but the reader has to pay attention to see that Maika pricks her finger and puts her blood into the drink and that Sauri does the same. Neither character comments on this. Is this just a strange local custom or does it have greater significance? As usual, the art is brilliant.

Overall excellent comic. The art is fantastic and the story is powerfully advanced in a brutal confrontation between Diana and some of her most powerful enemies. The use of the different villains and of Diana's powers is excellent - Giganta, who has been souped up to even greater power by Circe; Dr. Psycho, who manages to, momentarily, seize Diana's mind when her guard is down - a feat that ends up leaving his brain fried! The final villain that Diana faces is Grail - a powerhouse whose abilities and physical skills easily rival Diana's abilities and who attacks when Diana seems to be on her last legs. Their brutal battle is incredible and it leaves me hoping that Grail is, in the future, recognized as one of Diana's greatest rivals and adversaries. In a sense, she was originally designed to be this and it's about time that she was used in that role in a truly memorable way. I hope that this battle really puts her on the radar for future major roles against Diana and other DC heroes. The backup story, with Lizzie, Jon and Damian is effortlessly charming, as all the stories involving these three have been. But I'm still very curious to see exactly what Lizzie's relationship with Diana ends up being. I assume that Diana is her adoptive mother and that Lizzie is the child of the pregnant Amazon whose rampage set off the entire story arc, but that would not explain why she seems to be unusually powerful, even for an Amazon.