Comic Review: Last of the Irin #3

Last of the Irin #3

Author: Rob McMillan

Artist: Arseny Popov

The third and final chapter for Anahita’s saga is upon us! With a conclusion max-sized issue of around a hundred and forty pages, here’s what to expect of the ending for this crazy ride Rob McMillan brought us on.

The third issue starts off with a flashback to Earth, around 130 B.C. where we learn the Sirusians were experimenting and enslaving the ancestors of what we know today as the human kind. We see right away that human ancestry was not easy to contain. A Sirusians scientist, also dubbed Ana, created the Homo Sapiens that developed into our society.

Right away this seems like I’m giving a lot of information on what’s supposed to be a spoiler free review. Don’t worry, there’s so much more to come. The comic then cuts to Anahita, who was reading about the events we just saw take place. Our protagonist is now living a fulfilling life with Sarosh on Soma and they’re expecting a child. Anahita seems to have adapted to life in the Sirusian society, although her inheritance being half human – and also just… being an alien – seems to curb her acceptance among her peers.

Anahita finds out Yawer, her grandfather just passed away and this information has been kept secret from her by her husband. As an excuse for payback Ana decides to make her way to Caspius where Yawer died.
Intercut with Ana’s story we’re introduced to a new character. A boy named Dura who was left alone in Barduk’s temple after his death (back in chapter one). We follow Dura, who discovered the key to immortality by himself, as he lives through the ages developing his blood consumption technique.

McMillan again shows incredible promise. I’ve said this already but the world building in Last of the Irin stunning. Not only it rescues aspects of Canaanite godhood and science fiction but also mixes these elements in fantastically bizarre new ones. This aspect is what really compelled me throughout the whole trilogy, really. McMilla however insists on adding new elements at odd times. From what I recall of the previous chapters there is improvement to the writer’s storytelling. However the key problem I’ve had with the series from the first chapter is still there: the pace to the story. Previously it was mostly about the exposition and the world building that had to be crammed into the story. For this chapter, the problem is, sadly, with the plot itself. A lot is going on as we head towards the conclusion to Anahita’s story and we’re shown all of it in a too short range of pages. This could easily have been diluted into another chapter at least so that the reading would flow nicely and would be simpler to follow.

The artwork for the chapter was done by Arseny Popov. A welcome addition to the legacy of Last of the Irin. Their work reminds me of paintings we see on concept art collections, at least the wider shots. Not much keen on detailing everything but enough to preserve the semantics of what’s being depicted. Their style resembles that of an oil painting which is always refreshing to see as a storytelling device. What is most impressive about the style though, is that the artist chosen, yet again, managed to convey the 3D aspect to the style, maintaining a consistency to the whole series. Other than that Popov builds beautiful sceneries and nails facial expressions syncing perfectly with McMillan’s dialog.

When it comes down to it, I really liked Last of the Irin. It’s got a strong main character, a compelling narrative and a remarkable universe around it. As I’ve said, there’s room for improvement but I can easily see this being adapted to another medium – it would be quite exciting to see this as a tv show. McMillan has made his mark in the comics’ industry as far as I’m concerned. I hope to see more of him and all the other artists involved in the project out there. A lot of passion has been put into this project and sure, it’s a tad hard to read at first, but a really entertaining story is within those pages and it’s worth the shot.