Aside from having Liefeld’s involvement and generally being sexist towards women, this issue isn’t half bad. This year has seen a lot of revivals from the 90’s boom of comics and Rob Liefeld must have gotten bored because he’s back making comics again. Thankfully he limits his role on this issue to just writing. So how about it? Is Avengelyne worth reviving? Is this a character that is near and dear to people’s hearts and was the story one that needs to be finished? Probably not, but hey that’s comics for you. The story begins with a nearly naked woman strapped to a table about to be killed by a really harmless looking dude, surely this plays into the storyline for the series as a whole. We then jump to a strip club that is hosting adult film star Heaven Starr as their special guest for Christmas Eve. Mid-performance “Heaven” forgets who she is and what she’s doing standing naked on a stage. She’s quickly kicked out by the owner of the club because she fell into a table and told she’ll never strip in one of his clubs again (big lose right?). Heaven manages to find her way home to a high class apartment in New York, but not before she’s attacked by demon hobos.

Once in her home she’s attacked by her best friend a homeless kid she took in off the streets, by attacked I mean surprised. The kid tells Heaven that she heard about the incident at the club (how?) and that she took the effort in calling her boyfriend. Cue the abusive boyfriend that shows up and tries to make Heaven feel better with drugs that cost a THOUSAND DOLLARS! FOR ONE VILE! After that she kicks him out and figures out who she is.

Did I say this story wasn’t half bad? I think I meant the art wasn’t bad. In fact artist Owen Gieni is by far the best part of the entire issue. His style is very bubbly and full of smooth lines which at times take away from more of the horrific elements of the story, but all in all his style is hard to not to like. He also adds a lot of details to his characters appearances which give them a realistic feel that counters their bubbly nature. An example of this is the tattoo’s added to the characters which manage to stay in proportion when the character moves. Also his attention to each characters’ hair which is able to move and still look like the same hair style. Gieni can’t save this book, but he makes it a pleasure to look at.

If you’re dying for more Avengelyne then you were probably pretty excited about this story, but even then you’ll probably be disappointed by the major plot twist and the fact that this is a reintroduction of the character for everyone else that isn’t familiar with her. If you were always curious about the character then sure, give it a shot… but don’t expect too much other than some beautiful art. I’m thankful I read it, if only to have discovered Owen Gieni.

Score – 2/5

Artist: Owen Gieni

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $2.99