While the demon is dying he gives up the goods on his master. The demon yells out how weak her blood line is and that everyday his master grows stronger. Then he falls to his death off the side of the cliff. Kristoff convinces Patience to go back to the Vatican with him to hear Cardinal Hope's plan.
The anti-Christ learns of his disciple's failure and begins prepping another follower to take their place. Meanwhile, at the Vatican Patience looks down upon, literally and figuratively, at people taking communion at the church. She continues to feel used by the church and doesn't want to end up like her ancestors, used to the last drop and then sent to their deaths.
She meets with Cardinal Hope in the Shrine to the Magdalena and he asks her to join the church one last time. Instead of saying yes, she goes off on the Cardinal. Patience condemns him for taking her childhood, using her, lying to her and mostly for what the church has done to her bloodline. She leaves Kristoff and the Cardinal only one option: To kill her and take the spear. As Kristoff back peddles on his duties, the Cardinal reminds him that he is the one that will kill her. Unfortunately, Patience wasn't too far as she re-enters the room in her Magdalena gear and accepts her mission.
The issue continues a slow and steady pace as it builds the story and the world of the Magdalena. Granted, she ties into the rest of the Top Cow Universe, by Ron Marz (Witchblade, Artifacts) is also building a storyline that is relevant to the characters of Magdalena. That is definitely one thing that is done right in this series. Rather than trying to force a tie-in with the other franchises or use them as the crux, Marz focuses on making this franchise it's own.
Because the story is still starting off and Marz is laying down the groundwork still, the book can be a bit chatty at times. Fortunately, the snappy dialog and angry attitude from Patience keeps the readers attention. Thankfully, Marz has begun developing Patience more as a character by given her some real depth. Patience opening up about her childhood and her destiny gives a clear insight that was missing from the character before. Kristoff's development seems to be much smoother and natural though. With every action it becomes clear that he has deep feelings for Patience. I would bet that the Magdalena bloodline would be carried on through their relationship.
The art is very consistent and makes for a solid read. Nelson Blake II (G.I. Joe) seems more comfortable drawing Patience in her "work clothes" than in her casual wear. The character looks boring and flat outside of her Magdalena costume, but in it she looks strong and amazing. Overall, it's pretty good looking, but it's still missing something to make it striking.
The second issue is definitely stronger than the first and lays down solid ground work for the franchise. It's very interesting that there's no mention of the other artifacts, but it's also a very good thing. If you were on the fence after the last issue you may want to take another look at the up and coming title from Top Cow.
Overall Score - 7.9/10
