Phenomena Book Three: The Secret
By Brian Michael Bendis and André Lima Araújo
Abrams ComicArts/144 pages/$25.99
I have to hand it to Brian Michael Bendis. The writer is far from a one-trick pony, and no two series have the same feeling. Here, partnered again with André Lima Araújo, he has come up with a light family-oriented science fiction epic that is rather satisfying to read. The third and final volume was just released and does a fine job wrapping it all up.
Apparently, from the back matter, this was Araújo’s dream project, something he’d been noodling on for years. Bendis added his patented way with dialogue, and they were off and running.
In the first book, we meet Matilde, an alien warrior, Spike, and a teen, Baldon. Set in an intergalactic realm, something called the Phenomena changed Baldon’s world. They meet up and have adventures in the Golden City of Eyes and Velentia Verona across the first two books, their legend growing with each exploit. While the others got the spotlight in the first two books, this one is all Baldon’s as he returns to Borzubo, where the event was thought to have originated.
Baldon is reunited with his family, stories are told, fresh alliances are made, and the secret of the Phenomena is revealed and resolved. It does so with quiet moments of humor and epic scale, pacing it well throughout. Araújo provides wonderfully imaginative architecture and technology, along with great use of grayscale to add texture to the artwork. The kinetic action for the rattlebattle sequences is quite fun.
The story is compared with The Last Airbender, but on the surface, they are very different. First of all, this actually ends. Second, there’s a focus on characterization here that Bendis is known for, as each main character confronts their past and has to decide on their future.
Yes, you need to read all three to get the complete story, and I suspect it will work even better when the inevitable omnibus edition arrives. For now, this trilogy comes well-recommended.
English (US) · 