Customer Reviews

Poison Elves, Volume Six: Guild War

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Poison Elves Volume 6: Guild War collects issues 13-25 of the Sirius-published Poison Elves series, and continues the long running Sanctuary storyline.

For those of you unfamiliar with this excellent (and criminally underrated) series, Poison Elves is the story of an elf named Lusiphur. Now, before you get visions in your head of pretty-boy elves like Legolas or those Elfquest characters, you should know that Lusiphur (Luse, as he's known to the few people he likes well enough not to have killed) is not that kind of elf. He's a street fighting, hard drinking, mercenary/assassin described by his creator as (and I'm paraphrasing here) "having the temperament of a rattlesnake and the ability to deliver sarcasm faster than lightning hits the ground." Sound intriguing? Drew Hayes is a master storyteller, and besides getting a great non-traditional fantasy story, there is plenty of social commentary and very relevant, very cutting observations. Drew was doing this kind of thing long before Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis, et al made it commonplace. And his artwork is terrific too.

Guild War is very much the Empire Strikes Back chapter in the Sanctuary saga. In Poison Elves, Volume Five: Sanctuary (Poison Elves), Luse joins Sanctuary, a secret guild of assassins and thieves, and finds true love. You know how rare that is for someone like Lusiphur, so you can tell this means something. At the same time, Luse's pal Jace joins the Blood Guard, an elite police task force assigned to bring down Sanctuary. Guild War finds Luse captured by a rival guild, and the subsequent war between guilds. Not to mention the first conflict between Sanctuary and the Blood Guard. This volume also sees the involvement of the Elven High Wizard known as Tenth, Luse's ex-wife (and a powerful sorceress in her own right) Hyena, and the return of Widowmaker. Like Empire Strikes Back, Guild War is the middle chapter in the Sanctuary saga. As such, it really doesn't leave you with a satisfying ending, but trust me; it is an ending that you will never forget.

I can't recommend this series highly enough. When you're ready to take a break from "comics as usual", you owe it to yourself to check this series out. My recommendation is to pick up volume 5 first, as it provides an excellent introduction to the series. When you finish that one, you'll no doubt be torn between wanting to go back and read volumes 1-4, or going directly to this book to see what happens next!