Kings Watch #4
Written by Jeff Parker
Art by Marc Laming
Colors by Jordan Boyd
Letters by Simon Bowland
Covers by Marc Laming & Jordan Boyd and Ramon K Perez
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: February 19, 2014
Cover Price: $3.99

Kings Watch #4 is the penultimate chapter in this modern day “Defenders of the Earth” reboot. And I have to tell you, even though I can’t wait for the next issue, I hope it NEVER comes out! Because then there won’t be anymore issues of this book to read.

About a month ago, people all across the United States could hear me scream when Dynamite announced an ongoing Flash Gordon series starting in April written by Jeff Parker. And it’s comics like THIS that made my scream for joy that loud. Right off the bat in this issue, he brings you up to speed on the characters, the villains, the immediate situation in the book, and the sense of urgency. From then on, it just gets better.

These are probably 4 of the most DIFFERENT heroes every to be featured in comics, yet, Parker makes their abilities compliment each other perfectly. He creates a threat that only these heroes, by working as a team, could stop. He gives us just enough time and focus on each character, so that he doesn’t make this feel like any one character is the leader of the group, and nobody from anyone’s supporting cast really gets left standing around with nothing to do. Best of all, the issue is wall to wall action with a little set-up thrown in so that by the end of the book, you are craving that next issue.

Marc Laming is a fantastic artist, plain and simple. He has a great style of storytelling that really works with this book and each panel is absolutely packed with details. I have no idea how he kept a monthly pace on this title with all the work that he puts into each page. They each flow smoothly into the next, and there’s no jarring scene changes or anything that takes you out of the book, even for a minute. I can’t wait to see what he does next, as I will definitely be following his career.

Yes, this is a great issue, but it’s just one issue in a great SERIES. If you don’t have the other issues – GET.THEM. Even if you have no idea who one or even all of these characters are, I guarantee by the end of the series, they’ll be some of your favorites.