Glory Book 2: War Torn (#29-34)

"I'm not giving up now.  Not after so much was sacrificed.  I need to see this through" - Glory

War Torn continues the story begun in the previous volume, with Glory and her friends leaving to find Glory's little sister to aid in their fight against Glory's father.  Before we crack on with the plot, I need to fill you in on the "Extreme" Universe.  I wrote about the set-up at Image comics under my review of the Dave Sim penned issue of Spawn.  To briefly recap, each of the founders had their own studio which came under the overall Image banner.  Rob Leifeld's studio was called "Extreme" (oh dear, and when he left Image and formed a new studio he called it "Awesome".  How old was he again?).  Each studio had their characters as part of a shared universe, so for example events in Youngblood would be referred to in Supreme and so on, with frequent guest appearences and crossovers.  Less frequently their might be a reference to an event taking place in the Extremeverse in a comic under the Wildstorm banner.  But generally most characters kept to their own universes and in this volume of Glory we'll be meeting pretty much every character from the Extremeverse, including Supreme, Youngblood and Bloodstrike as well as assorted other characters from those comics.  Rob Liefeld rarely does much in the way of art stuff now, but he did draw a variant cover for the first issue of Glory (the fantastic one that had her standing on a pile of defeated monsters).  Sadly it's just rather dull and generic, and not as mockable the picture of her and Avengelyne I put in my review of book 1.  Certainly wouldn't entice me to buy the comic at any rate.

Why Liefeld!Glory I find your blandness.. ennervating

Now the characters have been introduced and the backstory done with, Joe Keatinge's writing becomes a lot more enjoyable.  With lots of dialogue heavy scenes that affirm the warm relationship Glory's merry little band have with each other and the people they meet, and it's funny and tragic when it needs to be, creating an emotional investment in the characters on the part of the audience, all helped along by Ross Campbell's amazingly good art, he's also an artist not afraid to render women's bodies in different shapes and sizes, which is so refreshing to see in the days of cookie cutter "babe" characters in most comics now.  There are also some guest artists in a couple of issues, rendering flashbacks and small scenes in different styles which are also very good.

The book begins with a flashback of Glory leaving Thule - so her Mum and Dad decide to have another half Demon/Amazon child to act as a peace symbol between their people and Nanaja is born.  Back in the present Glory, Gloria, Riley and Henry are packing up to leave and go find Nanaja. Another flashback shows Glory visiting Nanaja as a young child and Glory says she'll always be there for her even when she is away.  The flashback jumps forward and now Nanaja is a hot-headed teenager and angry at the responsibilities being laid upon her.  A demon tells her she is Glory's "bloodshadow".

Nanaja

Demon: "It means 'sibling outshone by the others greatness.'"

This makes Nanaja angrier and wanting to attack and crush humanity to spite Glory.

Glory and her gang fly to another French town called Buc (Gloria, Riley and Henry on the back of Belesava).  There they meet another old friend of Glory's called Jim.  They make plans to head into Paris where Nanaja is to be found. While the final flashback to the past shows Nanaja leaving for Earth via a teleportation portal.

In the present, Jim and Glory chat as they drive to Paris.  Jim is concerned that Glory will get Riley killed and Glory can't assure him otherwise.  They arrive at the house and Glory tells Gloria that her and Jim will be sharing a bed.  The action then cuts to them both naked and post-coitally sharing a bottle of wine.

Jim: "We have had some times haven't we? The places we've been, the things we've seen.  The lovers we've shared.  Some things never change do they?"

Nanaja and her bedtime companions

The action then moves to Nanaja, also sharing a bed with five (!) men and women.  She is restless and goes to look out of the window, saying to herself:

Nanaja: Come on big sister.  Find me.  Challenge me. Bring whatever you got. Try to take me down.  After all, it's long past time for some ultra-violence."

The second issue starts with a styalised flashback detailing how Glory and Ernest Hemmingway teamed up to take down a bad guy. Back in the present, Riley is impressed.

Riley: "Oh my God! Did they date?"

Jim: "No, no.  She was with another at the time.  For a long time.  I never knew of a more committed couple."

Gloria: "Really?  I didn't know that Glory was with anyone back then."

Riley: " I didn't know Glory was with anyone ever! Dish!"

Jim: "Everyone has their secrets.  I suppose this is one of Glory's"

(We will find out who this mystery person is in the last issue, never fear)

The action then moves to Riley and Gloria in a strip club, running up a large bill.  They start a verbal fight with the bouncer over it and Nanaja comes out to see what the fuss is about.  And Glory bursts through the wall and punches her.  They have a spectacular fight, both getting more demonic as they go, until finally the knock each other out.

Just your normal sibling rivalry

Back at the house, Jim says they were quite tame this time around.  Henry appears saying he's patched them up but they both have some healing to do.  Glory and Nanaja both bandaged and lying down have a chat.  Glory says she needs her because their father has attacked Earth.

Nanaja: "****, if I knew this was about Dad we could have skipped the usual fight.  You should have told me.  I'm always down to **** up that *******."

Glory: "That's it?"

Nanaja: "Count me in."

Back with Glory and Nanaja's parents they worry about their daughters teaming up, that they don't have Riley and have no contingency plans and finally what will Glory and Nanaja do when they find out they have another sister?

D'awwww

Back with the gang who are on an aeroplane, Riley wakes from a dream where she is killed by Glory.  Glory and Nanaja have recovered and they all plan to fly/parachute out of the plane onto Lord Silverfall's house and surprise attack him.  They do so and bust down the door to his living room, only to find no opposition and Silverfall himself clad only in a robe and casually making breakfast.

Silverfall: "Gloriana.  Nanaja.  I figured that explosion was you.  However I must apologise. I don't believe I have enough eggs for everyone.  Would you settle for some waffles?"

Nanaja: "**** yeah.  I'll have some waffles."

Glory: "You have to be kidding me"

Silverfall: "I assure you I am quite serious.  We have an abundance of waffle mix."

Lord Silverfall

While they eat waffles, Silverfall explains his situation, why he has no soldiers and why he isn't fighting Glory. All the soldiers he had left he sent to Mont St. Michel and Glory killed them all.  The reason he had so few soldiers left was linked to the reason why Glory was so beat up at the start of this storyline.

During the war between the Amazons and Demons, just after Glory attacked her father for supposedly killing her mother, a huge monster appeared with a mass horde of followers.  Glory attacked it headlong and was blasted out of the sky.  Somehow she managed to escape back to Earth but with no memory of the beast in question.

The Knight Of Thule

Glory's parents were both still alive and managed to also escape to Earth with the few followers they had left after the monster - identified as a supposedly mythical "Knight Of Thule" - wiped out pretty much the entire population of their planet.  After Silverfall finished his tale, Glory realises that her mother must be alive, and Lady Demeter walks in saying they have a lot of catching up to do.  Glory then punches her jaw clean off in a rage.

Later Glory goes to speak with her mother who's jaw has been reattached.   Glory is pissed at her.

Glory: "I killed so many people for you.  I was ready to kill so many more.  Now I find out it's all based on a lie."

Soz about the jaw Mum

It is explained that the Kinghts of Thule were/are creator Gods for the denizens of Thule, giving them both life and an afterlife.  Silverfall tells Riley and Gloria that he is not sure why this Knight is acting alone.  RIley wonders if it conquered the other Knights.  Silverfall agrees that this might be a possibility and once the Knight finds a rift big enough it will arrive on Earth, they have maybe an hour at most now.  Riley says if they are going to die shouldn't they use this time to say goodbye to loved ones.

Riley speaks with her best friend John and can't bring herself to say farewell. On the beach nearby Henry gives one of his precious cameras to a little girl playing there.  Gloria is approached by a faceless man who gives her a horn called the "summoner" which is specficially designed to kill Glory.  Nanaja bonds with her baby sister.  Demeter and Silverfall make love.  Finally Glory is back outside drinking wine by the bottle.  When Gloria criticises her for wasting her last hour like this Glory responds:

Glory: "I didn't just sit around and drink.  I made a few calls."

Gloria: "Oh really? To who?"

Glory: "Everyone"

And out of a rift in the sky comes pretty much every superpowered character from the shared Extreme/Awesome Universe, with the notable exception of Prophet.

The cavalry arrives

Over scenes of preparation for battle, Glory gives a rousing speech to the assembled heroes.

Glory: "I should be clear.  Today we fight for existence.  We fight for civilisations we'll never know.  We fight for the stars snuffed out in previous battles' wake.  Our enemies purpose full purpose is unknown save apocalypse.  This gives us but one objective.  Today we slaughter a God!"

Silverfall tells her the Knight has emerged from a rift in Tokyo and the use a rift of their own to travel there quickly, finding a scene of devastation.  It's minions are conquered Thulians, the Knight generates parasites that attach themseleves to those it conquers and forces them to fight for it.  Before Glory goes to take it on Riley says goodbye to her in case they don't make it.

Riley and Glory about to go into battle

Glory and the strongest of the heroes go to attack the Knight head on in the sky, while the rest fight the army down below.  Nanaja gets attacked by parasites, and Badrock and Supreme goe to help her, but Badrock get's attacked by them as well.  Supreme says Glory's plan was doomed and that he should take over leading the army.  He attacks her and Beleszava goes to help her but gets killed by the Knight, as does Henry when he attacks it as well.

Supreme breaks Glory's arm to make her yield control to him, but she rips his arm off in return, just as Riley dreamt about in Book 1. Glory then mutates into a monsterious, bestial, one-eyed being, and attacks the Knight, ripping it apart.   Riley realises this is all happening as her dreams predicted and she says the following over images of Glory raging out of control:

Uh-oh

Riley: "I know the force Glory has become. I know she has no control over what will follow.  I know the devastation she will bring. I know the sacrifice she will make. I know she can't be stopped now.  Fighting her at this point would be futile.  I've seen what happens when we try.  I know I don't blame her.  I know this is all for the best.  I know what I am supposed to do now... Just know that in the end, I forgive you. I know this prevents something even more terrible. And more than anything... I will always love you."

And Glory rips her in half.

Nooooo!

This horrifying act snaps Glory out of her madness, and while a devastated Gloria kneels by Rileys bisected corpse, Glory can only mumble Riley's name in shock and sadness at what she has done.

The final issue starts with a flashabck to 1913 with Glory meeting a girl called Emilie who turns out to be the secret lover of Glory who was her constant companion during the early and mid twentieth century.  Back in the present we see a miserable and literally diminished Glory, minus an arm and with a shaved head.  Her father says he has arranged it with the freed Knights of Thule that she can make one trip to the afterlife, but this is a one time thing and when she dies for real, she'll be confined to the black void instead.  Glory doesn't care - "When do I leave?"

This heaven looks pretty cool

Charon rows her to the fields of the afterlife and she jumps out of the boat and goes running across to where Riley, Henry, Beleszava, Jim and Fabrice all are (Jim having died of a heart attack not long after Glory left) and she has an emotional reunion with them.  Glory wants to take them all away with her out of the afterlife and back to the world of the living.   But Riley assures her that while they appreciate her doing this:

Riley: "Your actions - all our actions - have consequences. In this case they're permanent. We're dead.  Like dead, dead... There is nothing to fix anymore. There's no reset button for anybody.  Even you."

Riley comforts Glory as she cries in her lap and says one day she'll find out that being dead is wonderful. Glory tells her that after the buried her, Gloria left and she doesn't know where she is.   Nanaja and Glory are getting along, and staying with their parents.  The new baby has been named "Riley" much to Riley's delight. Then Jim says that "she" is here.  Glory isn't sure if she should see her. Glory tells them that Emilie killed herself after she couldn't bear growing any older while Glory stayed the same.  And that was one of the reasons Glory became more unhinged, without Emilie to keep her in line.

Glory: "Who know's what she'll think of me now. What she'll think when she sees.."

Emilie: "G-Gloriana?"

Glory and Emile kiss as Henry, Riley, Jim, Fabrice and Beleszava look on

After their reunion, Glory realises she has to leave and she doesn't tell them she won't be able to return to the afterlife.  The story ends with Glory looking more like her old self, with a new arm, and the whole family, Glory, Nanaja, baby Riley and their parents pile into a flying, rocket powered van to adventures new.  How sweet.

It's not quite the end.  Tacked on are two final pages where two faceless men discuss the destruction of the Summoner and how the battle of Tokyo would have been an ideal debut for what they are planning.  They have a long time to plan and one day someone will "pull the trigger" for the "coming of Prophet".  And we see lots of cryogenic storage tubes as this is said.  These pages have literally nothing to do with Glory's storyline, but do have a lot to do with the series that was running concurrently called Prophet, and which is still running to this day.  I've only read the first three trades of Prophet and how events in them link back to these two pages hasn't been covered yet in them.

As for Glory, it seems these twelve issues are all there has been of this new look reboot.  I've checked out my local comic shop and haven't found any more issues on the shelves, and searching online hasn't yielded any useful information.  It's a great pity because Glory is a fantastic character and it was refreshing to have an unconventional looking main character in a storyline that prioritised female relationships in a way few comic books ever do even now in space year 2014.  I have to wonder what Rob Liefeld thought of the decision to make Glory bisexual.  When the X-man he created called Shatterstar was made bisexual and given a male lover he got pissed and very outspokenly said he'd undo it if he ever got the chance (not that him writing for one of Marvel's biggest cash cow franchises is ever going to happen in this day and age).  But female homosexuality is generally less contentious to homophobes, so he probably didn't care.

Glory and Emilie while still alive.

Glory Book 2 overall is a fantastic read.  It pays off plotlines laid in the first book satisfactorily, gives everyone a happy ending (of sorts) and sets it up nicely so if anyone else wants to pick up the series, there is room for a relatively fresh start to be made.  The characterisation is much better in this book with the writing improving by leaps and bounds, and it's genuinely upsetting when Riley is killed as you really care about her by then.  Nanaja is a lot of fun, as a being who doesn't take life as seriously as the straight-laced Glory and seeing the Extremeverse characters in action is pure 90's fanservice of the non-rude kind. Glory really feels like a character with history and totally shucks any last vestige of being a Wonder Woman rip-off to stand on her own two mighty feet. Ending with a plot reveal for a different book is a little odd, but if anything the Prophet reboot is even better than the Glory one and so encouraging people to check that series out can only be a good thing. I wish this Glory was an ongoing series, but these twelve issues across two books tell a self contained, greatly enjoyable story, with strong female protagonists and wonderful, wonderful artwork.  Great stuff.

Glory Book 1: The Once And Future Destroyer (#23-28)

 "Stop it.  He's dead.  In fact they're all dead. There's nobody left.  It's over" - Gloria


There is an old saying in the north of England where I live that goes "where there's muck, there's brass".  Basically this means if you mess about with something shitty long enough, something good and worthwhile will emerge as a result.  This is a perfect way to sum up how the reboots of the old Rob Liefeld comics Prophet and Glory have taken some incredibly unpromising material and turned them into something completely awesome.  The twelve issue series, Glory is the first one I am going to be looking at, which has been split into two trade paperbacks, both of which I shall be covering.  The early Image characters all tended to be knock-off's of popular DC and Marvel characters and Glory was no exception, being the Extreme (Rob Liefeld's studio under the Image banner) universe's version of Wonder Woman.  She was a half Amazonian princess and half demon, raised by her Amazonian mother as a warrior, yet struggled with her demonic heritage, she travelled to Earth to fight for the Allies in World War II.  Her full name was Gloriana Demeter. After twenty-two issues the title was left languishing in limbo.  An attempt was made to restart the comic under Alan Moore, with a couple of issues published showing Glory had taken on human form under the name Gloria West, but Moore left to work on his own characters under the ABC imprint and Glory had to wait until 2012, when writer Joe Keatinge and and artist Ross Campbell took over and fully retooled Glory's look.  Making her look more like the badass a half Amazon/half demon would look like and less like the sad sexist joke Rob Liefeld had drawn her as.

Glory is the one at the back.  Don't look at her vajayjay! Too late.  You can't unsee now can you?

So I think you can see from the cover of the trade at the top of the page that Glory has undergone something of a makeover.  From being the ridiculous Ms.Cameltoe and her pointless tutu, who can't even hold a sword properly, she's now someone who looks like she could punch a train unconcious.  Which is what you'd expect from a half-demon, half-Amazon who's trained for war over hundreds of years.  The cover of the first issue of the comics new run accentuates this fact.  Interestingly the choice was taken to not start the comics numbering at #1, but continue on from when the 90's series left off.  A somewhat baffling decision considering the Rob Liefeld Glory's will be reprinted never and that a potted history of the Glory is provided in the first reboot issue bringing everyone up to speed anyway.
                                               

And you will know me by the trail of the dead.

In all honesty, it's the art that impresses me most about this comic. Keatinge's plotting is good, but his pacing and dialogue are merely adequate.  However I can't praise Ross Campbell's art highly enough.  The bright, colourful lines and strong character and monster designs make it a joy to look at, even when it's at it's most massively gory.  Glory's design has her hugely muscled and she "hulks out" further when her blood lust is at its highest (which is a major plot element later in the story).  But she's also drawn with a delicate, feminine face by contrast which helps make her stay appealing even when she is engaging in the old ultra-violence.

Glory during WW2

The story begins with a quick recap of Glory's origins.  How the leader of the demons and Amazons came together to have a child who would be symbolic of peace between them.  Glory grows up and decides to leave for Earth which has always fascinated her.

Glory: "I do have a purpose. One I've trained for how long? Almost five hundred years.  You've prepared me to lead in times of peace or fight in a war which may never come. Day in, Day out, it's past the time for something new."

We then cut to her helping Allied troops in WW2. She says she is fighting not for a country but for what's right.  We are then introduced to a new character, a young woman called Riley who has been having dreams of Glory's adventures all her life, until the new dreams stopped and the old dreams just looped over and over.  Riley decides to go looking for Glory.

Back in the past, Glory is talking with Supreme.  Supreme was Rob Liefeld's rip-off of Superman, and so the most powerful in his company, Extreme's line up of superheroes (Glory of course being his knock-off Wonder Woman).  Supreme's USP was that he was something of a dick and didn't hesitate in killing bad guys.  Alan Moore, during his time at Image was allowed to reboot Supreme as a Silver Age Superman tribute act, but it seems that Supreme in this comic has gone back to his cynical, Liefeldian roots.  He calls Glory "reckless" and says he doesn't trust her.  Glory points out that she is the off-spring of two races human's would call God's and how she doesn't actually give a damn what Supreme thinks of her.

That told you, dick Superman

Over a recap of more prior adventures of Glory, we get Riley talking about how her search is going, finally ending up in a French town called Mont St. Michel.  There a friend old man called Fabrice introduces her to another American called Gloria.

Gloria: "I know why you're here Riley.  We've been expecting you."

Gloria says she planted every rumour about Glory's whereabouts to lead Riley here. She tells her that one day, Glory decided to try out being human and that she picked Gloria, then a waitress to link with, into a fusion of both of them.

Gloria:  While I still led my regular life, with Glory in my subconcious, she would often take over and well I can't describe how great it was to live as her."

And if you are an Alan Moore fan, you might be thing that it sounds like a rip-off of Promethea.  However, this was Alan Moore's idea for Glory when he was chosen to take over the title.  But before more than a couple of issues were written he defected to ABC comics, and decided that the whole "female warrior Goddess linked to a normal human" was too good an idea not to re-use.

Anyway, one day Glory disappeared for Gloria as well, who also came looking for her and ended up in St.Michel.  She opens a door and shows Glory, badly injured and sleeping.

Gloria: "Some one did something really, really bad to her.  And I think they are coming back."

Gloria, Riley and Glory

Gloria continues that she is not sure what happened to Glory, only that she left Earth because of a promise. We see Glory amongst a pile of monster corpses and then her finding her demon father holding the presumed dead body of her Amazon mother.  She beats the piss out of him.

Then we cut back to Riley and Gloria beside the sleeping Glory.  They both head off for bed, but Glory gets up and and speaks to Riley saying she was beginning to think she wouldn't show.  Then Glory flies Riley to a nearby island where she keeps her arsenal of weapons.  She tells Riley what happened to her, that her people went to war and she began her life as a weapon.
                                                

Lord Silverfall versus Glory

Glory: "I was born and bred solely to be an instrument of destruction.  So I fulfilled my purpose.  We won."

Riley: "you don't look like someone who won."

Glory: "I don't feel like it either. The war wasn't without its casualties, including me.  Things didn't go the way I hoped.  That's why your here.  I'm going to war one more time.  The way I want to, not the way I was trained.  I have wrongs to right.  Ones that will change our world for the better."

Riley: "Are you recruiting me?"

Glory: "I am.  You're being recuited into an army.  My army. Wartime is upon us."

The action then turns to Lord Silverfall, the demon king father of Glory.  Pondering what Riley's arrival means.  Then suddenly Glory's mother appears and asks if Glory knows that she is still alive.

The next chapter is mostly made up of a dream Riley has.  Five hundred years later, we see Riley as a very old woman on a spaceship about to land on Mars.  She hires a hoverbike and heads out into the wilderness.  She finally comes across a mutated Glory and they sit together and talk by a fire.  Riley tells her bitterly that the Earth is still the same after she tore it apart during her "war".  We get a flashback to Supreme telling Glory not to continue fighting, and breaking her arm in an effort to get her to stop, she tears his arms off while Riley talks to Glory in the present over this flashback:
                                       

Riley's dream of the future

Riley: "You know, it's not just that you ruined out lives for your cause.  It's that you made sure we were left with nothing when you we done.  You abandoned humanity and made sure no one else could save us.  See things never got any better, they only got worse.  Much, much worse."

Riley goes on to say that the demons Glory was protecting them from, gave them technology to help rebuild the shattered Earth. And in the end all Riley accomplished was growing old.

Riley: "You know why I'm here don't you?"

Glory: "Yes. Yes I do.  I'm so sorry."

Then she breaks Riley's neck, killing her.  Then she burns her body while flashing back to the first time they met.  Then Riley wakes up and frantically goes to Gloria telling her she had dreamed of the future.

Riley: "I get it now I know why I am here"

Gloria: "Then you know I didn't bring you here to help Glory.  You're here to stop her."
                                 

The civilised Mr. Henry

We cut to the next day and Glory is trying to train Riley to fight.  When they return to the house they meet a strange but polite creature from Thule (Glory's home) called Henry, making a pot of tea.  They chat for a bit then Fabrice turns up saying he is concerned about an elderly couple who have missed a couple of deliveries and that there is blood outside their front door.  Glory and Gloria go to investigate and find the couple have been killed by a demon who states to Glory:

Demon: "You have no idea how long we've been tracking you.  No idea how hopeless your cause.  I suggest you surrender.  You are weak, Godling. Put up a fight if you wish, it is over now."

Glory and Gloria kill it, then search the house, finding a green sphere which sends a blast of light into the air before Glory smashes it. Glory rushes out saying they are all in danger and need to leave the town.  Meanwhile Henry tells Riley that Glory's father has succeded in tracking her down as they also go to make their escape.  As a huge object materialises in the sky, Henry tells Riley that:

Henry: "The war has come early.  Her father's army is already here.  I can't promise you much.  But I can promise you this.  We won't win."

The demon ship arrives

We get another flashabck to Glory's childhood where she is fighting over a toy with a fully Amazon child.  As she gets angry, her demon side manifests itself and it looks like she will kill the other child until her Mum comes and breaks it up, calming Glory down into her normal state.  Back in the present Glory and Gloria fly to the island to get some weapons. Henry and Riley have their escape blocked by more demons and Henry tells Riley she see a side of him she won't like and he transforms into a huge monster while telling her to run.

She gets caught pretty quickly, but Fabrice, who was a sniper in WW2 and served alongside Glory, blows the demon's head off.  Riley makes it over to him, while Glory and Gloria battle a large quantity of monsters.  Finally Glory's demon side takes over, and she loses control in the process.

You won't like me when I'm angry etc.

Gloria defeats the flying monster holding her and drops, but is caught by a back to normal Henry.  They both watch Glory carving her way through the demons, slaughtering everything in a blind rage.

Gloria:  "She's going to end up killing us isn't she?"

Henry: "Of course she is.  That's what she does."

Back with Riley and Fabrice, they are escaping across the island beach in a moterbike and sidecar.  Fabrice fights off demons until he runs out of bullets and the demon chasing them rips him apart.  The demon advances on a tearful Riley and grabs her.

Demon: "You don't get what's happening her do you?  Gloriana Demeter is one of the most dangerous beings in all existence.  She is a weapon long overdue for de-commissioning. A threat to both our worlds.  You're the opposite.  You're something the world needs to survive,  Something she'll destroy. So no, we're not here to kill you.  We're here to save you.  This is a rescue mission."

Who needs clothes when there are demons to pwn.

Riley is resistant to this idea, saying they didn't need to tear up the town and kill people she cared about in the process.  The demon makes to take her away, but is suddenly blown to pieces by a giant, winged cat shooting lasers out of it's eyes (it looks awesome, but it's a two page spread and I couldn't fit it on my scanner).  It gently licks Riley, showing it to be a friend.  Then Gloria and Henry arrive, Gloria tells her the cat is called "Belesava" and she protects the island for Glory. Back with Glory she has bulked up so much that all her clothes have ripped off and she strides about the demons ship killing everything she comes across. She returns to the island and tells everyone to suit up and grab a weapon.

Glory: "This has gone on long enough. They can't retreat.  We can't let them survive.  We have but one mission now.  Kill those sons of bitches."

They all pile into battle against a new wave of demons.  Riley somewhat reluctantly.  A demon grabs her and tells her he is going to kill her by "accident".  Riley buries both of her blades in his head, killing him.

Riley: "I killed him.. But.. I don't even.. This isn't what I wanted... I'm so sorry."

Riley starts to feel out of her depth

Finally they finish off all the demon hordes on the island.  Glory says more will return and that she needs to recruit more soldiers.  Over a sequence of panels depicting an unseen monster killing what look like a gang of ninjas, Glory states the following:

Glory: "I've fought wars on Thule and Earth...I've seen warriors even more savage than me.  We need that kind of immense power.  That kind of relentless force.  Anything less is not an option. We need to go after the strongest I have ever known. The most savage of them all.  We need my little sister."

I can see the slight family resemblance..

End of book 1.  Glory: The One and Future Destroyer is an excellent book, with fantastic and striking art and a fine collection of female characters.  When Glory ends up naked while fighting there is no pointless titilation here.  Instead it's the very essence of female empowerment in some respects.  She's confident enough in her own skin and in her abilities to not even care that she is nude while she kicks demon butt.  Plotlines that will pay off in book 2 are being laid here, with mysterys as to why and how Glory's mother ended up alive and back with Glory's demon father as well as just how the meek and mild Riley is going to stop a being as powerful as Glory from destroying everything.  Whether the demons are telling the truth about Riley's fate and the worry hanging over the whole book as to just when Glory will lose control and never get it back again, ruining the world in the process as Riley's dream of the future foretold. You have to hang on until Book 2: War Torn to find out where and what this is all leading to...