Modo: Ember's End by Arthur Slade - OPTIONAL

Slade, Arthur Modo: Ember’s End, 84 pages. Illustrated by Christopher Steininger. GRAPHIC NOVEL. Orca, 2018. $15. Language: PG (1 swear); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG. 

Modo and Octavia are British agents who have gone off the grid.  They are in the Wild West and have happened on a town that keeps losing their lawmen to an outlaw and his band.  The town has a hidden power that makes guns not work and the late Dr. Ember was a genius who has set his daughter up in a home with hidden weapons.  As the bad guys encroach on Dr. Ember’s daughter in an attempt to access the weapons, it’s up to Modo and Octavia to help the town out.  

I enjoyed this graphic novel because the art is amazing and Modo and Octavia have great banter.  I enjoyed the story and felt like it moved along and was interesting.  My only complaint would be that I felt like this is part of a series, as Modo and Octavia weren’t developed very well.  I had basic questions such as where did they come from and what were they doing in this town?  Apparently this is supposed to be a stand-alone, but is a spin-off of Arthur Slade’s Hunchback Assignments.  As much as I enjoyed the story and the characters it felt like I was dropped in the middle of an ongoing story and it was a bit off-putting. I wish there was another story that set this up-this would be a great graphic novel series.

MS- OPTIONAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.