SCION is the story of Ethan, youngest prince of an ancient empire locked in an uneasy truce with its eastern rivals. In an age in which ritual combat has taken the place of real war, Ethan prepares to mark his passage into manhood by participating in his first tournament. Then an incident occurs which changes his life forever – and leads to the first open warfare in generations. Young, headstrong, and somewhat naïve, Ethan embarks on a quest to avenge his brother’s death that takes him deep into the heart of the Eastern lands. This is a world where dragons are scientifically engineered creatures with on-board computers, hovercraft are decked out like tall ships, and Lesser Races are bred for toil. Part fantasy, part science fiction, SCION is at its heart a coming of age story, featuring some of the most dynamic artwork of the CrossGen line.
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Ron Marz has been writing comics since 1990, giving up a journalism career when he found that it was more fun to make up the stories. In those years, he has written extensively for publishers including DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image, and Acclaim. You've read his work in the pages of Superboy, Silver Surfer, Star Wars Tales, StormWatch, X-O Manowar, DC vs. Marvel, the Amalgam title Dr. Strangefate, and most notably Green Lantern. He brought his skills and voracious fans with him to CrossGen, where he writes the titles Scion, Sojourn, The Path, and Crossgen Chronicles. Ron received a Harvey Awards nomination as Best Writer in 2002 for his work on Scion, which was also nominated for Best Continuing Series.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
not given the attention it deserves,
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This review is from: Scion v. 1: Conflict of Conscience (Paperback)
This has been one of Crossgen Comics' best series from the beginning. The writing and the artistry are both well done. This is a great read for lovers of the science ficiton/fantasy genre. Highly recommended.
4.0 out of 5 stars
I can't pronounce the dang title, but I like it,
By H. Bala "Me Too Can Read" (Just moved to posh Marina Del Rey, CA - where if you drop a quarter, why, you just keep on walking) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
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This review is from: Scion v. 1: Conflict of Conscience (Paperback)
My opinion, SCION is very nice even if I'm not into it as much as some of the other stuff CrossGen Comics had once produced (MERIDIAN, SOJOURN, WAY OF THE RAT, RUSE, etc.). SCION is, in essence, a coming-of-age story that starts out with a King Arthur-type fantasy bent but then rapidly turns your head by introducing a technological twist. To sum up this conceit, we get to eyeball sword-wielding medieval warriors astride dragons equipped with combat/navigational computers. So it's not really Sword & Sorcery as much as it is Sword & Science. It's quite cool.
In response to the gratuitously violent comic books being churned out by companies like Image Comics in the early '90s, CrossGeneration Universe co-creator Mark Alessi wanted to go back to a more relevant form of storytelling. As such, the mandate for CrossGen was to veer away from superhero tropes. SCION falls very much in CrossGen's wheelhouse. Like its sister titles, SCION features a protagonist newly come to power and that protagonist's hard road to responsibility. SCION Vol. 1: CONFLICT OF CONSCIENCE collects the series's first seven issues and the five-paged story from CrossGen Chronicles #1. SCION is one of the first four series originally launched by CrossGen Comics (along with MYSTIC, SIGIL, and MERIDIAN). It ran for 43 issues before CrossGen's insolvency canceled all its comic book titles. Ron Marz writes, and writes well. Jim Cheung's style has a whiff of manga but he turns in some fairly dynamic artwork. In fact, issue #6 - the all-out battle issue - delivers Cheung's visuals in epic two-paged spreads, and it is awesome stuff. But, hold up, that's getting ahead of the thing... In the world of Avalon, the Raven Dynasty, the dark Empire in the East, had been raring to make war on the Heron Dynasty, the rival kingdom in the West. Except that an uneasy peace has held sway for centuries between Raven and Heron, with both nations able to unleash hostilities only thru annually staged ritualized combat. Prince Ethan of the Heron Dynasty, the book's central character, will set the world of Avalon on the brink of global conflict. It's Ethan's 21st birthday and, in his first scheduled skirmish in the tournament, he's matched against the fearsome Prince Bron of the Raven Dynasty. Ethan is pretty nervous. On his way to the contest, his right bicep is grasped by a well-wishing stranger (which is how Ethan's bicep ends up with an odd mark). In the arena, the mark activates and Ethan's sword ravages Bron's face, but this results in Ethan's being accused of utilizing an illegal weapon. Ethan is forced to forfeit the contest. To make reparations Ethan agrees to serve as royal hostage in the Eastern empire for the sum of one year. But no sooner does Ethan set foot in Raven Keep than he's thrown in the dungeon and forced to suffer indignities at Bron's hands. Shortly after, when Ethan is unwittingly transported away from Raven Keep, his disappearance gives the Raven Dynasty's ruling family the opening to declare war on the Heron Dynasty. Admittedly, Ethan isn't so original a character, and he's even fairly predictable in his arc. The saving grace of this series, for me, anway, is the very intriguing backdrop. Not Sword & Sorcery, but Sword & Science, as I've said. It's sort of a different mix, although not really that new a concept (you can even label Burroughs' John Carter of Mars - who battles with sword and radium pistols - as Sword & Science or, hell, just science-fiction). But there's something neat about warriors whom you initially place in a medieval habitat suddenly manifesting hi-tech battle armor. There's also the genetically-engineered Lesser Races, long ago subjugated into forced labor. Interesting supporting characters include Ashleigh, the fiery, beautiful crusading rebel who fights for the Lesser Races' rights, and Exeter, this hulking bounty hunter. And Ethan's humpbacked jester servant Skink is underfoot quite a bit. There's more to all three than what we get to see in this volume. Tellingly, Ethan's relationship with his older brothers rings the truest. Ethan gets teased a lot by them, which is such normal behavior in the sibling hierarchy. But they all get along. That's what's heartbreaking, if you get my foreshadowing. Future volumes flesh out these characters even more, of course, especially Ethan as he comes of age, comes to responsibility. SCION Volume 1 isn't at all bad. It certainly sets up the central conflict. In future volumes, the story only gets better and deeper. It's certainly worth checking out. However, in this volume, you're more or less kept in the dark as to just what Ethan's mark - his Sigil - is truly capable of. As a nice bonus, Mark Alessi writes a foreword, and then there are the introductions before each issue as various of the creative team grant insights and behind-the-scenes info on the making of SCION.
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