Comic Info
Comic Name: Sigil (Marvel)
Publisher: Marvel/CrossGen
Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Leonard Kirk
# of Issues: 4
Release Date: 2001
Sigil (Marvel) #2
Reprints Sigil (Marvel) #1-4 (May 2011-August 2011). Samantha Rey has lost her mother and now is struggling in school. The targets of bullies, Sam finds herself suddenly whisked to a world of pirates. Sam learns that her mother was part of a war and the strange birthmark she inherited from her mother gives her powers. The search is on for a buried treasure, and Sam is facing off on the man who is responsible for her mother’s death. Sam finds herself part of a war she never planned for…and she still has to make-up that test she failed back on Earth.
Written by Mike Carey and illustrated by Leonard Kirk and Pat Olliffe, Sigil: Out of Time was one of Marvel’s first attempts to bring the cancelled CrossGen line of comics out of retirement.
I actually rather liked the CrossGen series of comics, but I felt that Sigil was one of the worst titles of the bunch. Here, Carey blends the Sigil story with different aspects of the CrossGen line of comics…and for the most part it works.
Sigil (Marvel) #4
Both Sigil and Ruse got the “reboot” from Marvel. While Ruse remained unchanged, Sigil transformed the character. The previous Samandahl Rey was a man in a futuristic space opera. Here she’s a teenage girl trapped in an inter-dimensional battle. The common theme between the original version and the relaunch version is the sigil which Sam inherited from her mother in this comic.
The original Sigil (and other CrossGen comics) had the sigils given to them by the gods known as the First. It is unclear in this if volume of Sigil if there is a higher power guiding the sigils. The series also combines aspects of the cancelled CrossGen series El Cazador (which was about pirates) and Meridian which was about a free spirited girl who could fly using her sigil. I would have preferred a Meridian relaunch, but this works in its place.
Sigil isn’t a bad book but with such a limited run, it is hard to get a feel for the characters. The art by Leonard Kirk is strong, and the series boasted some nice covers. I normally like shorter stories, but four issues was just too few issues to introduce a whole new character and a whole new world. As of yet, we haven’t returned to the world of Sigil, but another CrossGen title was released after Sigil in a revival of Mystic.
