By Joe Douglas
For the most part Phans over all don’t seem particularly fond of the Temple of the
Gods saga. Myself, I’ve enjoyed every instalment thus far and Thirst is no exception.
Something else my own opinion of varies on from that of many Phans is that of
Egmont’s historical stories. To my mind they seem more concerned with being
history lessons than entertaining stories. Thankfully, this isn’t true of Thirst.
Furthering the mysteries behind the Temple on the Island of Eden, Thirst tells the
story of a woman who escaped from the Temple when she a young girl and fled to a
deserted island. The Phantom encounted the girl, Maria, when a ship on which he
was travelling stopped off at the island to get supplies. A number of the men who ventured to the island were brutally slain and the rest of the men retreated back to the ship. However, after the
men had returned from the island several of the crew fell violently ill and died. Shortly there after Maria was
discovered on board the ship as a stole away. Although the deaths are apparently solved and Maria leaves the
ship with her new adoptive parents, the Phantom is still puzzled by the mysterious deaths of the crew men and
decides to investigate more closely. The Phantom manages to track Maria down in Transylvania and a story of
gothic horror ensues.
I have never been a great admirer of Cesar Spadari’s art, but here his dark, moody illustration plunges the reader
into an unnerving 1716. From the very first page you are aware of the heavy darkness that flows from the pages.
The Phantom is depicted slowly moving towards a rather ominous looking cottage, his cloak billowing in the chill
wind. The branches of dead trees reach out behind him like bonny hands, preparing to grab him and darg him to
the depths below. A full moon shines in the sky casting an eerie glow across the world. This image is extremely
powerful and sets the atmosphere for the rest of the issue. It would be wonderful to see how it would look after
being treated by a talented colourist.
As striking as the artwork is, it is not without fault. In a few frames hands and faces look a bit odd and images are
not quite as powerful and dynamic as they perhaps could have been. However, Spidari’s real achievement here is
that he has not let his art be overrun by the use of blacks. It is a common mistake of many artists to make horror
comics simply too dark. A perfect example of this would be the recent Ghost Rider mini series Road to Damnation
in which the reader has to squint to see what is going on in a frame. Spadari, however, balances the dramatic use
of blacks perfectly. There is a lot of black in this story but it is never over used and the images never hard to
make out. Personally, I feel this is some of the best art in an Egmont issue for a long time, defiantly since Paul
Ryan left to do the strips.
Of course good art alone does not make a good comic. Thankfully David Bishop’s script is an entertaining on,
something Bishop is rightly due for after a number of below average tales. Bishop manages to lay out the mystery
just right, delivering enough that you want to keep reading and find out what happens next but not so much that
you feel overcome. Indeed, all the information needed to follow the story is provided within this issue. Although
this is the fifth part of the larger Temple of the Gods story one really does not need to have any previous
knowledge of the other four parts to follow this adventure and as such it stands well on its own.
The entire back story for the new character, Maria, is provided in flashback sequences which flow in and out of
the “real time” story very smoothly. Once the issue closes there is no question of who she is or where she came
from. Of course Thirst still makes reference to the previous Temple of the Gods issues, but not in such a way that
they are essential reading. However, in finishing this tale I found myself looking forward to what comes next.
The dialogue in this issue flows very well and while it is dramatic in places it fits the dark, gothic horror mood of the
story perfectly and doesn’t fall into ridiculousness as some of Bishop’s dialogue does (however, that may be due
to Frews’ translations, not the writers skill).
The only thing that struck me as strange in Thirst is how its link to the legend of Vampires is handled. Due to the
experiments performed on her before she escaped the Temple, Maria must drink blood to survive. Her methods of
doing this isn’t exactly like vampires, but they are some what similar and the story suggests it was in fact Maria
that gave birth to the vampire legend. This is perfectly fine; however I wonder why Bishop did not have a young
Vlad Dracull, the original inspiration for Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, as the escaped prisoner. Could not Vlad
have escaped from the Temple, fled to Transylvania and become the ruthless, blood thirsty tyrant known as The
Impaler which spawned the Vampire legend? If Bishop had written the story this way it would have given it a nice
tie into real world history, but as it is the character or Maria works very well, and who am I to say anything against
having beautiful women in our Phantom comics?
As I said at the start of this review, I know some phans are not fond of the Temple of the Gods saga. I also know
some did not enjoy this instalment. For me Thirst makes an already interesting mystery all the more intriguing and
is also the most enjoyable issue Frew has released thus for in 2007. I look forward to Temple of the Gods, Part 6.
3/5