''Sigil'' is an American
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
series
Series may refer to:
People with the name
* Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series
* George Series (1920–1995), English physicist
Arts, entertainment, and media
Music
* Series, the ordered sets used in ...
published by
Cross Gen Entertainment from July
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
to December
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
, ending at issue forty-two. ''Sigil'' was one of the publisher's first four titles (the others are ''
Mystic'', ''
Scion
Scion may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
*Scion, a playable class in the game ''Path of Exile'' (2013)
*Atlantean Scion, a device in the ''Tomb Raider'' video game series
*Scions, an alien race in the video game ''Ba ...
'', and ''
Meridian
Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to
Science
* Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon
* ...
''), originally created by
Mark Alessi
Mark Albert Alessi (August 28, 1953 – March 29, 2019) was an American businessman who was the CEO of a number of companies, most notably as the founder of comic publisher CrossGen where he created a number of the titles.
Biography
Alessi's f ...
and Gina M. Villa. The book is one of many from the publisher that took place in the
Sigilverse
Cross Generation Entertainment or CrossGen was an American comic book publisher and entertainment company that operated from 1998 to 2004. The company's assets were acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2004, and designated to Disney Publishing ...
, or the Cross Generation
universe
The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Acc ...
.
In 2011, ''Sigil'' was part of
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
' relaunch of the Cross Generation Universe.
Setting
The bulk of ''Sigil'' takes place on and around the worlds of the ''Planetary Union'', a group of five human-inhabited planets: ''Gaia'' (believed to be humanity's home world), ''Brejhur'', ''Delassia'', ''Kayseecay'', and ''Victor''. Humans have also colonized the neutral world of ''Tanipal'', which seceded from the Union sometime before the series opened. Tanipal is ruled by the Sultan Ronolo.
As the series opens, the Planetary Union has been at war with the ''Saurians'', a starfaring race of
reptilian humanoids
Reptilian humanoids, or anthropomorphic reptiles, are fictional creatures that appear in folklore, fiction, and conspiracy theories.
In folklore
In South Asian and Southeast Asian mythology, the Nāga are semi-divine creatures which are half ...
, for several centuries. The size of the Saurian empire is never revealed in the series, but its capital is the Saurian homeworld, ''Tcharun''.
Plot synopsis
Samandahl "Sam" Rey was a former soldier for the Planetary Union. He and his good friend Roiya Sintor were laid off from the army due to cutbacks and became mercenaries. The pair were "vacationing" on the pleasure world of Tanipal when the series began. While on Tanipal, Sam and Roiya meet the beautiful Zanniati Oribatta and her bodyguard, an orange eyed-man named JeMerik Meer, these four would be inseparable for the rest of the series.
During that initial meeting, a Saurian assassin squad arrived looking for Sam. Sam had previously made an enemy of Tchlusarud, the youngest Saurian prince. The prince desperately wanted Sam dead. In the ensuing fight, Sam was tackled by an odd Saurian with glowing orange eyes. The Saurian cryptically said to Sam, "You shall find them, gather them, and lead them" and branded him with a swirling red and yellow mark: the
sigil
A sigil () is a type of symbol used in magic. The term has usually referred to a pictorial signature of a deity or spirit. In modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitioner ...
. The saurian then disappeared. While Sam was distracted, one of the attacking Saurians impaled Roiya with his weapon, fatally injuring her.
The four retreated to Sam's ship, ''The Bitterluck'', where they failed to save Roiya's life. In a fit of rage, Sam activated his sigil, destroying a large part of the city in the process.
Relaunch
''Sigil'' was relaunched by Marvel Comics in March 2011 with an entirely different storyline. Now starring Samantha Rey, a 16-year-old South Carolina girl who awakens one day to find herself branded with a strange symbol, she finds herself thrust into a war across time.
Creative teams
''Sigil'' was created by
Mark Alessi
Mark Albert Alessi (August 28, 1953 – March 29, 2019) was an American businessman who was the CEO of a number of companies, most notably as the founder of comic publisher CrossGen where he created a number of the titles.
Biography
Alessi's f ...
and Gina M. Villa.
The original creative team consisted of writer
Barbara Kesel
Barbara Randall Kesel (born October 2, 1960) is an American writer and editor of comic books. Her bibliography includes work for Crossgen, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, and Marvel Comics.
Biography
Barbara Kesel init ...
, the Lai Brothers (Ben on pencils and Ray on inks), and Wil Quintana coloring. Over the years, this line-up changed several times.
Writers
*
Barbara Kesel
Barbara Randall Kesel (born October 2, 1960) is an American writer and editor of comic books. Her bibliography includes work for Crossgen, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, and Marvel Comics.
Biography
Barbara Kesel init ...
*
Mark Waid
Mark Waid (; born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles ''The Flash'', '' Kingdom Come'' and '' Superman: Birthright'' as well as his work on ''Captain America'', ''Fantastic Four'' and '' Dar ...
*
Chuck Dixon
Charles Dixon (born April 14, 1954) is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on the Marvel Comics character the Punisher and on the DC Comics characters Batman, Nightwing, and Robin in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Early life
D ...
*
Mike Carey (under the relaunched
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
CrossGen imprint).
Pencillers
*
Ben Lai
Ben Lai is a Canadian comic book penciler who worked on series such as ''Sigil (comics), Sigil'', ''Radix (comics), Radix'', ''Thor (Marvel Comics), Thor'' and ''X-Men''. His brother, Ray Lai, often inks his work.
In 2002, the Lai brothers were ...
: His first penciling gig was with
CrossGen
Cross Generation Entertainment or CrossGen was an American comic book publisher and entertainment company that operated from 1998 to 2004. The company's assets were acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2004, and designated to Disney Publishing ...
and ''Sigil''. He left with his brother and ''Sigil'' inker, Ray Lai, due to creative differences.
*Kevin Sharpe: Also got his start on ''Sigil''.
*
Steve McNiven
Steven McNiven is a Canadian comic book artist. He first gained prominence on CrossGen's '' Meridian'', before moving onto books such as ''Ultimate Secret'', ''Marvel Knights 4'', '' New Avengers'' and ''Civil War''.
Early life
Steven McNiven ...
: Pencilled a backup story, one of his earliest works as a penciller.
*
Scot Eaton
Scot Eaton is a comic book artist, best known for his work on '' Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man'', ''Thor'', '' X-Men: Endangered Species'', and '' X-Men: Messiah Complex''.
Career
In the early 1990s Eaton started penciling ''Doctor Fate'' an ...
*
Dale Eaglesham
Dale Eaglesham (born 1962) is a Canadian comic book illustrator who has been working in the American industry since 1986. He is best known for his work on titles like '' Conan'', ''Punisher'', ''Green Lantern'', ''Villains United'', ''Justice Soci ...
*
Leonard Kirk
Leonard Kirk is an American-born comic book artist living in Canada. He has worked on such properties as ''Supergirl (comic book), Supergirl'', ''Justice Society of America, JSA'', ''Star Trek'', ''Batman (comic book), Batman'', and ''Witchblade' ...
: First artist under the relaunched Marvel Comics CrossGen imprint.
Books
CrossGen published four
trade paperback books containing the first part of the series:
* ''Sigil Volume 1: Mark of Power'', ,
* ''Sigil Volume 2: The Marked Man'', ,
* ''Sigil Volume 3: The Lizard God'', ,
* ''Sigil Volume 4: Hostage Planet'', ,
CrossGen also announced a further two books, but went bankrupt before they were published. Checker Books released them in July 2007:
* ''Sigil Volume 5: Death Match'', ,
* ''Sigil Volume 6: Planetary Union'', , {{ISBN, 978-1-933160-67-2
See also
*
Mark Alessi
Mark Albert Alessi (August 28, 1953 – March 29, 2019) was an American businessman who was the CEO of a number of companies, most notably as the founder of comic publisher CrossGen where he created a number of the titles.
Biography
Alessi's f ...
*
CrossGen Comics
Cross Generation Entertainment or CrossGen was an American comic book publisher and entertainment company that operated from 1998 to 2004. The company's assets were acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2004, and designated to Disney Publishing ...
*
Negation War
''Negation War'' was a comic book series published by CrossGen Comics, and serving as a culmination of the metaplots of nearly all of CrossGen's other titles. It was cancelled after only two issues, in spring 2004, before the company declared ba ...
2000 comics debuts
CrossGen titles
Science fiction comics