Magnus: Robot Fighter #8
Written by Fred Van Lente
Art by Cory Smith & Felipe Cunha
Colors by Mauricio Wallace
Letters by Marshall Dillion
Covers by Gabriel Hardman and Cory Smith
Magnus Logo Design by Rian Hughes
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: November 19, 2014
Cover Price: $3.99

Magnus: Robot Fighter #8 is a pretty important issue. Now, I do have a confession to make: I haven’t been following the title for a few months, so I was skeptical as to the level of enjoyment that I would get out of this issue. Would I be able to jump right back into the title and not be lost? Would I still care? The answer to both those questions, is a great big YES!

Writer Fred Van Lente delivers a really interesting issue here. There’s all the basics; character development, major movement in the storyline, some shocking surprises. BUT, sometimes, even when a comic has all those ingredients, it’s still not exactly exciting. BUT, this is Fred Van Lente we’re talking about. I learned a LONG time ago that this guy doesn’t do “boring.” I really don’t want to get into spoiler territory, but again, there are some MAJOR things that happen in this issue that change the whole direction of the story. It’s a great story with just the right amount of shocks and surprises thrown in for good measure.

It took me about four pages to warm up to artists Cory Smith and Felipe Cunha, but after that, I grew to like the art more and more and by the end of the book, I’m really digging what these guys are doing on this book. In fact, I have to say, it wouldn’t be near as entertaining with a different art team. They take sci-fi to a whole new level here. You don’t get the usual “sliding doors” and “holophones” kind of sci-fi here. What they bring to the table are TRULY unique and unusual designs of technology, that are really organic in the way that they’re drawn. You can see something that makes you think “Yeah, that’s what TV’s are going to look like in the future”. Absolutely great work here by this art team.

Having not been keeping up with this title for a while, this issue has made me change my mind, and I’ll be adding this title to my pull list for sure. I’m a fan of science fiction, and this issue is some of the best science fiction that I’ve read in comics in a long, long time. You should really grab this issue. you can thank me later!