Sigil v. 1: Mark of Power

by Barbara Randall Kesel, Ray Lai, Ben Lai

Samandahl Rey was a loner, a wandering ex-soldier whose sense of responsibility extended only to himself and to his friend, Roiya Sintor – until the Sigil was forced upon him, a brand of vast power that changed his destiny forever. Now the first daughter of Delassia needs his protection, his worst enemy is about to ask for his help, and the entire Planetary Union is depending on Sam to free its citizens from the tyranny of the vile, lizardlike Saurian race. Sam’s about to find he had no idea what the word ‘responsibility’ meant. SIGIL is a panorama of intergalactic fleet actions and strange, alien worlds. CrossGen’s only straight sci-fi series, Sigil is leavened with a spark of humor and romance that sets it apart from your typical space odyssey.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Barbara Randall Kesel is an American writer and editor of comic books; her bibliography includes work for DC Comics, Marvel Comics, CrossGen, Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics. Kesel is a very outspoken opponent of sexism in the comic book industry. She is known for her strong female characters, influencing her then husband Karl's work on Lois Lane in the Superman titles and creating Grace, the ruler of the Golden City location in Comics' Greatest World.

Kesel initially came into the comics world after writing a 10-page letter to editor Dick Giordano regarding the portrayal of female comic book characters. At Dark Horse, Kesel was part of Team CGW, responsible for most of the design and creation of the setting and characters in the Golden City location. She is currently part of book packaging company The Pack, alongside Lee Nordling, Brian Augustyn, Gordon Kent and Dave Olbrich.

Kesel has been nominated for the 1991 "Best Editor" Eisner Award for Badlands, Aliens: Genocide and Star Wars. In 1995, she was nominated for "Best Anthology" and "Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Material" Harvey Awards for, respectively, Instant Piano and Hellboy: Seed of Destruction. She won the 1996 "Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work" Harvey Award, for Hellboy: The Wolves of St. August.

Reviews

[Matthew J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading the various Cross Gen Comics titles is sort of like watching the MCU films. Individually, most of them aren't all that good. But taken as a whole, they tell a big tapestry story that's pretty cool.
Sigil is one of the comics that drew me in to Cross Gen, because it's much more my genre. Straight-up Sci-Fi Action. Space Opera. Ships and aliens and flying through the stars. Yes.
Reading it again, for the first time in 20 years, it's...OK. The dialog is a bit hammy. The lead "hero" is kind of a douche. This is also the second book in a row where the lead good guy dudes are blonde. That's weird, right? Is it a company-wide trend? I know the lead in Meridian is a blonde woman. What's up with that?
The art is a mixed bag. Some parts are very cool, while sometimes the characters look really weird. And because the two guys are both blonds, they start to blend so sometimes I'm not sure which one is which. Actually, that's kind of true with the female leads. More than once I forgot which one was which, especially if they change costumes for any reason. That's not a great sign.
Anyway, it's OK. I can't remember anything about how this series plays out. I feel like I was into it when I first got into Cross Gen, but that my interest faded as I found other series I preferred.

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reprints Sigil #1-7. Sam gains the Sigil and find himself being pursued by the Saurians, the First, and the sultan. Sigil was a very generic super-hero comic book in the Crossgen line. The characters didn't have as much depth as the other Crossgen characters, and the story was flat.

[Frank Taranto · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning of the Samandahly Rey story. A SF story about a man who gets extraordinary powers through a Sigil on his chest. The powers and mark are given to him by a 'supernatural' being