''Solus'' was an
American comic book 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 ...
written by
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 ...
and illustrated by
George Pérez
George Pérez (; June 9, 1954 – May 6, 2022) was an American comic book artist and writer, who worked primarily as a penciller. He came to prominence in the 1970s penciling ''Fantastic Four'' and '' The Avengers'' for Marvel Comics. In the 198 ...
. It was published by
CrossGen Entertainment
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 ...
from April to December
2003. It ran for eight issues until it was cancelled when Crossgen went bankrupt in
2004. This series was a late comer to the Crossgen line-up, but was intended to serve as a pivotal title within the overall
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 ...
history.
Plot synopsis
''Solus'' told a story which was integral to the Sigilverse.
The main character, Solusandra, was the creator of the Sigil-Bearers. She was an Atlantean who had undergone transition. She was allowed to "play" in a part of the galaxy and she used her powers to create
The First, demi-gods with great powers. The strongest of these demi-gods and her special friend was
Altwaal. She gave Altwaal seven weapons, called Altwaal's Weapons, which seem to be the most powerful artifacts in the galaxy. Not long after she created the First, she left them (for reasons never explained) and so when she returned (in ''Solus'' #5) she was not recognized.
More recently, Solusandra was convinced by
Danik
''Crux'' is an American comic book published by CrossGen Entertainment from May 2001 to February 2004. It was cancelled due to bankruptcy in 2004. ''Crux'' was one of the later titles that came first in a sort of second wave of Crossgen titles w ...
to work with him in creating
Sigil-Bearers
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 ...
. These modified humans were given great power (the ability to control and use the ''universal cosmic power''). The purpose of the Sigil-Bearers was (eventually) to free Solusandra and defeat the other fully ascended Atlanteans. There were some disagreements between Danik and Solusandra in creating the Sigil-bearers. For example, Danik did not approve of
Mordath as a Sigil-bearer, but Solusandra overruled him.
The other ascended Atlanteans figured out that Solusandra was doing something dangerous to them, so they attacked her. Their attack resulted in disaster. They all died, and Solusandra was nearly killed as well. She lost all of her memories and "died" on a dead planet, leaving Danik as the only "God". However, after some years Solusandra revived and found her world filled with life and many glowing, floating bubbles containing her sign, 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 ...
. With her memory gone, she touched a sigil-bubble and was transported to the location of one of the sigil-bearers, a computer game designer named Lindy Karsten.
When Solusandra touches Lindy's sigil, suddenly Solusandra gains a portion of her memories back (and Lindy loses her Sigil and her powers). Lindy is very distressed to lose her sigil powers and so she follows Solusandra back through the portal onto Solusandra's world. The remaining episodes show Solusandra visiting other sigil-bearers (
Brath Mac Garen, Mikos of Abyelos, Kellra Tuskin, and
Giselle Villard). Each time, Solusandra gains more memories, except for Kellra Tuskin: she nearly drives Solusandra insane (#7). Solusandra also visits
Elysia, home of
The First to take back some of Atlwaal's weapons (the weapons also give Solusandra some memories back).
Early on, Solusandra destroyed Lindy Karsten's mentor (a fragment of Danik) called Infoe. This ''death'' told Danik that something powerful was awake but nothing more. So Danik created a ''hound'' (looking like a huge skeleton of a dog made of flame). This ''hound'' chased Solusandra through several worlds, Solusandra destroyed the hound and directly notified Danik of her location.
In the last episode (#8) Solusandra meets with Danik, her one-time ally, who seemingly restores all her memories. Solusandra then sends Lindy Karsten away and swears that she will fight the
Negation.
Collections
CrossGen announced two book titles for future
trade paperback books that would collect the ''Solus'' series but these books were never published due to CrossGen's bankruptcy:
* ''Solus Volume 1: Genesis''
* ''Solus Volume 2: Radiant''
2003 comics debuts
Comics by George Pérez
CrossGen titles