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Written by James Nokes Thursday, 13 September 2007 17:00

Catapulted 5,000 years into the future with no record of her in history, Egyptian goddess Isis must now fend for herself on the streets of Los Angeles.

36 pgs FC; $3.50

(W: Derek Ruiz; P: Dawid Strauss; I: Gary "Dub" Mitchell)

Catapulted 5,000 years into the future with no historical record of her existence, Egyptian goddess Isis must now fend for herself on the streets of Los Angeles, California, in writer Derek Ruiz's continuation of The Legend of Isis. After winning a duel with her sister Nephtys, Isis earns the hand of Osiris and the right to the title Queen Goddess; however, displeased with the results, Nephtys teams up with Isis's brother Set to punish the new couple. Nephtys defeats Osiris and sends Isis into the future, where she befriends police officer Scott Dean and Dean's girlfriend, Crystal Van Howe. The two give Isis a new identity, Jessica Eisen, and shortly after, the goddess-in-disguise discovers the staff of Luxor and reawakens Set, who will not only stop at nothing to become the God of Chaos, but must destroy Isis to do so.

Ruiz's first installment in the story of this well-traveled character -- Isis was originally published by Image Comics before jumping to Alias; this new ongoing comes from production studio-turned publisher BlueWater Productions while the old material is being collected in an upcoming trade paperback from Atomic Pop Art -- is a rather patchwork introduction to the character of Isis. The story assumes background information that readers may not necessarily have, and on top of that, the plot jumps around -- from the immediate present to a couple days previous to an hour previous -- which isn't necessarily a problem, and even lends the story a bit more mystery, but the overall experience is not entirely compelling.

What makes the story so fascinating is the romanticism attached to Egyptian culture. Ruiz plays upon the curiosities of readers by tapping into the pantheon and magic that surrounds the culture, then retrofitting it for the future. Armored bat-gods and Antarctic expeditions with cold-proof falcons all lend a strange sort of cyberpunk feel to the contrasting periods. Readers, however, could probably do without the speaking in hieroglyphics, considering hieroglyphics were generally reserved for cartouches and not everyday conversation (perhaps something from the Hamo-Semitic family would clear that up).

Overall, not a lot happens in this first installment. Some fighting between the bat-like Apophis and Isis and the reason why Apophis is attacking are about all this covers. There are moments with Dean, who is quickly taken out of the fight before the focus returns to Apophis and Isis. Readers also will note that Set has been given the name Seth, and a whole slew of historical inaccuracies follow, which, of course, is the danger when drawing from an existing religious system. Unfortunately, the story is not so interesting that it can carry itself past some glaring flaws, despite the rich, rather dynamic artwork; this, however, does not necessarily make for a total pass. Readers should certainly try out an issue or two, but do so with a skeptical eye. | James Nokes

For a preview of The Legend of Isis and other BlueWater titles, visit the BlueWater ComicSpace page!