Review: Elric: The Balance Lost #9

Take a trip you’ll never forget! See the sights of infinite worlds aboard the living ship, Spammer Gain, as she plies the waves between the very folds of reality itself.

For those not in the know, this latest installment of  Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion cycle features several incarnations of the Champion, Dorian Hawkmoon, Corum Jhaelen Irsei, a new incarnation (created for this comic) named Eric Beck and, of course, the titular Elric himself, who have joined forces to restore the Balance, lost as the forces of Law and Chaos battle for supremacy. Whichever one wins, the result would be disastrous.

In this current issue, we spend most of our time listening to dialogue consisting of lengthy explanations concerning fictional physics needed to travel between layers of the Multiverse. I actually found it rather boring, even as a life-long fan of Michael Moorcock, and while it filled several pages nicely it did seem to be just a space filler rather than necessary information.

After last month’s slow issue, I was hoping the book’s pace would pick back up and for the first time since this series started, I was disappointed. Still, writer Roberson has given us a tremendous ride so far and I have to believe it will pick back up shortly.

As I’ve said before, artist Francesco Biagini’s work is simply a delight to behold and his rendering of the innards of the living ship were both slightly disturbing and interesting. Imagine yourself in the intestines of an organism and then imagine that body was filled with fantastical organic machinery. That’s just what Biagini did and he brought it to life spectacularly.

If you aren’t reading Elric already, this issue probably wouldn’t excite you too much, but for those of us who love the worlds of Michael Moorcock, it’s a necessary bridge to the next chapter and I look forward to enjoying many more issues.