Elric: The Balance Lost #9
Elric created by Michael Moorcock
Written by Chris Roberson
Art by Francesco Biagini
Colors by Stephen Downer
Letters by Travis Lanham
Covers by Francesco Mattina, Dan Panosian
Boom! Studios
Release Date: March 14, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

As you may know if you have read any of my other Elric reviews, I am a huge fan of the Eternal Champion books and comics. This month I got to review Elric: The Balance Lost #9 and it was a real treat. A major change from the majority of the previous comics, this issue explores some of the wonders and background of the multiverse as envisioned by Michael Moorcock.

We get to explore the different planes and concepts of inter-dimensional travel as seen by our heroes on the sentient ship Spammer Gain. Focusing mainly on information, this month we are given a tutorial on the different ways to travel between the worlds and the types of people able to do so.

Not a lot of action this time, but definitely an awesome overview of the setting of this comic series. There is little character interaction and only one action sequence that is more of a non-event. The comic runs smoothly and they reach their destination, The Lost Universe, by the end of the issue. There is a surprise twist at the end but it’s really just a teaser for next month.

The story is pretty straight forward this time around, Chris Roberson doing an excellent job of delivering a lot of information in a short time. Francesco Biagini and Stephen Downer team up to deliver some vividly colored artwork that, unfortunately, doesn’t do justice to the story. I just didn’t really like the visuals this month. Too many opportunities to blow us away with some awesome space/fantasy art that just didn’t pan out. The story carried the book, though. No doubt about it.

This is an excellent starting point for new readers, though it is very anti-climatic. I enjoyed it and I’m sure other fans of the series will, too. It will be a pleasure to see where this new story goes and how it unfolds with only three more issues in this mini-series. That said, it was just this month that I realized this comic series was limited to twelve issues… sort of sad, really. But maybe Boom! Studios will turn around and start an ongoing series soon. Take a chance, this has been one of my favorites this past year.