Welcome to another addition of “You Missed That Issue!”. A feature that has not been done in a while. Basically we pick what we decide are the “modern classics” and tell you everything about the issue without keeping anything hidden, so it is full of spoilers. The point of this feature is to explain what you are missing out on with comics that may have been overlooked, so no Shadowland or Blackest Night here.
Ok, a quick explanation on what The Anchor is all about. The Anchor is a fairly new series from BOOM! Studios. It is about a man who lives on two planes of existence. His spiritual self sits at the gates of Hell and fights off the hordes of demons that constantly try to invade Earth. His physical self suffers all the injuries inflicted upon his spirit and fights any demon that may make it through.
What makes this issue one that should not be missed is the intense action and drama that are weaved together. The demon Leung had pitched The Anchor against the Five Furies and turned his granddaughter (Hofi) into the Fifth, is dragging her soul down into Hell. Clem (The Anchor), is filled with grief and secludes himself from the world. Here he is confronted by a ghost he helped find its way to Heaven earlier on, Matthew. He tells The Anchor to go to Hell and rescue Hofi.
It is in Hell that “flesh” Clem reunites with “soul” Clem for some serious demon butt-kicking. After beating hundreds of demons to a pulp, the two Anchors take the fight to the devil's front door. Whilst his spirit fights the devil, his flesh goes after his granddaughter. Instead of eating Hofi's demonically tainted heart, Clem had kept it and he plunges it into the corpse of his granddaughter resurrecting her.
This distracts the devil and Clem uses this opportunity to join both his forms into an even stronger fighting machine and he now fights the devil head on. After the devil rants in shock about being surprised he may be defeated, he is. Satan is destroyed and Clem leads Hofi out of Hell telling her to keep her eyes shut as it is a horrible sight to behold.
Clem leads Hofi to his perch as they both hear the sounds of demons approaching to fight him once again. Here, Clem seperates his body from his soul. Leaving his soul in Hell, Clem takes Hofi back to Earth where they meet up with their companion Increase Mcbride. Hofi seems to struggle with memories and when Increase mentions to Clem he does not look well, he replies saying “I have never felt better in my life”.
I truly believe that The Anchor so far has been an amazing series and it will be very interesting how Phil Hester and Brian Churilla will continue this series when the devil has already been defeated. I recommend this series strongly to lovers of action or the supernatural. Of Spawn or of Hellboy.
