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Scion #issues #1-7
Scion, Volume 1: Conflict of Conscience
The Traveler revolution continues with "Scion Traveler vol. I. In a world whose medieval culture hides its high-tech roots, a young prince fights to liberate his world. He is Ethan, scion of the Heron Dynasty, bearer of a mark that grants him unmatched power and a chance to make things right. Together with his intrepid allies, Ethan battles to free the genetically engineered "Lesser Races" and erase the scourge of slavery from his world.
Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
About the author
Ron Marz
1,653 books127 followersMarz is well known for his work on Silver Surfer and Green Lantern, as well as the Marvel vs DC crossover and Batman/Aliens. He also worked on the CrossGen Comics series Scion, Mystic, Sojourn, and The Path. At Dark Horse Comics he created Samurai: Heaven and Earth and various Star Wars comics. He has also done work for Devil’s Due Publishing’s Aftermath line, namely Blade of Kumori. In 1995, he had a brief run on XO-Manowar, for Valiant Comics.
Marz’s more recent works includes a number of Top Cow books including Witchblade and a Cyberforce relaunch. For DC Comics, he has written Ion, a 12 part comic book miniseries that followed the Kyle Rayner character after the One Year Later event, and Tales of the Sinistro Corps Presents: Parallax and Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion, two one-shot tie-ins to the Green Lantern crossover, The Sinestro Corps War.
His current creator owned projects include “Dragon Prince” (Top Cow) and “Samurai : Heaven and Earth” (Dark Horse).
Photo by Luigi Novi.
Marz’s more recent works includes a number of Top Cow books including Witchblade and a Cyberforce relaunch. For DC Comics, he has written Ion, a 12 part comic book miniseries that followed the Kyle Rayner character after the One Year Later event, and Tales of the Sinistro Corps Presents: Parallax and Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion, two one-shot tie-ins to the Green Lantern crossover, The Sinestro Corps War.
His current creator owned projects include “Dragon Prince” (Top Cow) and “Samurai : Heaven and Earth” (Dark Horse).
Photo by Luigi Novi.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 28, 2023
It's been pretty much 20 years since the fascinating failure that was CrossGen comics. A lot of money was thrown at a lot of writers and artists to created a somewhat cohesive multiverse of tales, interconnected by themes, some characters, and the sigil that was also the company's logo.
Scion was not one of my favorite series they produced, but they did something I've thought was an amazing idea, though perhaps not a financially sound one? In publishing every issue of their comics for each month in two digests, they got me to read all of their various series, and go back and grab some earlier volumes, like this one. The whole thing was bonkers, but also kinda great.
Anyway, Scion is mostly a collection of fairly typical Fantasy tropes, with a bit of magi-tech thrown in to spice things up. There are also hints at forces beyond the scope of this world, tying into the larger story told across the various titles. I don't love Jim Cheung's art style, though the vibrant color work helps elevate it. You can see the money that went into these comics. That's for sure.
Scion was not one of my favorite series they produced, but they did something I've thought was an amazing idea, though perhaps not a financially sound one? In publishing every issue of their comics for each month in two digests, they got me to read all of their various series, and go back and grab some earlier volumes, like this one. The whole thing was bonkers, but also kinda great.
Anyway, Scion is mostly a collection of fairly typical Fantasy tropes, with a bit of magi-tech thrown in to spice things up. There are also hints at forces beyond the scope of this world, tying into the larger story told across the various titles. I don't love Jim Cheung's art style, though the vibrant color work helps elevate it. You can see the money that went into these comics. That's for sure.
September 30, 2026
"I was thinking in terms of efficiency. The number is unimportant. A small number makes for a clear burden on each: too many, and they let someone else do the work."
Avalon kingdom has held a combat tournament for centuries, showcasing and posturing for the masses with such as a young prince becoming a man on his 21st birthday by entering to show his prowess, and also pitting dynasty representatives against each other. Though seemingly medieval in societal hierarchy and fashion, technology in the realm of weaponry and sorcery is highly advanced, with wounds of the flesh being healed immediately, and lesser races subservient to the ruling class. Interesting initial premise and decent art, I can see the inspiration of Arthurian legend at play. It is not new territory but after the first seven issues, I am captivated and disappointed that CrossGen couldn't make it last. One issue has a preview of the Homeric-inspired The First, a connected universe series, that held a macabre interest. Shared universe with other series, including the samurai tragedy of The Path, the wuxia comedy Way of the Rat, and the sword-and-sorcery Brath, reminiscent of Gladiator and Braveheart.
Writer: Ron Marz
Pencils: Jim Cheung (1-6); Rick Leonardi (7)
Inks: Don Hillsman II (1-6); Karl Kessel (7)
Colors: Caeser Rodriguez (1-6); Paul Mounts (7)
Letters: Dave Lanphear
Issue 2: "No, it's not what you deserve, but what's done is done. Now you make of it what you can."
"This pain you've suffered, it's not because you did something wrong. It's because you did what's right."
Issue 3: "You've led a life of privilege. Don't you think it's time you helped those who haven't?"
Issue 5: "When all I needed to concern myself with was the Ravens and the Herons, everything was simple. Just us and them."
Issue 7: "Your father does his best to maintain a stoic façade. He understands that right now he must be a king first and a father second."
"Today we bury our dead.. tomorrow we turn our thoughts to vengeance and victory!"
Character Reference:
Western Heron Dynasty:
Eastern Raven Dynasty:
Avalon kingdom has held a combat tournament for centuries, showcasing and posturing for the masses with such as a young prince becoming a man on his 21st birthday by entering to show his prowess, and also pitting dynasty representatives against each other. Though seemingly medieval in societal hierarchy and fashion, technology in the realm of weaponry and sorcery is highly advanced, with wounds of the flesh being healed immediately, and lesser races subservient to the ruling class. Interesting initial premise and decent art, I can see the inspiration of Arthurian legend at play. It is not new territory but after the first seven issues, I am captivated and disappointed that CrossGen couldn't make it last. One issue has a preview of the Homeric-inspired The First, a connected universe series, that held a macabre interest. Shared universe with other series, including the samurai tragedy of The Path, the wuxia comedy Way of the Rat, and the sword-and-sorcery Brath, reminiscent of Gladiator and Braveheart.
Writer: Ron Marz
Pencils: Jim Cheung (1-6); Rick Leonardi (7)
Inks: Don Hillsman II (1-6); Karl Kessel (7)
Colors: Caeser Rodriguez (1-6); Paul Mounts (7)
Letters: Dave Lanphear
Issue 2: "No, it's not what you deserve, but what's done is done. Now you make of it what you can."
"This pain you've suffered, it's not because you did something wrong. It's because you did what's right."
Issue 3: "You've led a life of privilege. Don't you think it's time you helped those who haven't?"
Issue 5: "When all I needed to concern myself with was the Ravens and the Herons, everything was simple. Just us and them."
Issue 7: "Your father does his best to maintain a stoic façade. He understands that right now he must be a king first and a father second."
"Today we bury our dead.. tomorrow we turn our thoughts to vengeance and victory!"
Character Reference:
Western Heron Dynasty:
Eastern Raven Dynasty:
July 28, 2018
Scion was possibly the best and most ambitious of the Crossgen books and told a fantastic tale that remains a thrilling read to this day. These trades are a permanent fixture in my collection, I absolutely adore them.
July 26, 2020
I love CrossGen in theory but none of the books have ever really done what they could have to spark enough interest in the world they’ve created. They’re all very generic. Beautifully illustrated, but generic.
October 4, 2022
A great volume of comics, centered in a good guy and where his options and actions take him. Good art and story.
February 29, 2016
One of CrossGen's trades from the early '00s, during their brief meteoric rise and flame out. Scion attempted to flip the sword-and-sorcery genre around, adding technology and deleting the magic, ending up with something like sword-and-science or a technological medieval world. An interesting idea, but I'd say, not always successful. For example, the dragon riders control their mounts with computers, but it wasn't clear to me whether the dragons themselves were living beings or constructs. A number of non-human ("lesser") races occupy this world as well, and their relationship with the dominant humans is one of the underlying themes. The story centers around Ethan, a human prince (of course) who's just come of age (of course) in the kingdom and ends up wounding a rival kingdom's prince in the arena, is taken prisoner and escapes. The art here, mostly by Jim Cheung, is gorgeous, as are the colors of Caesar Rodriguez - all of CrossGen's books seem bright and colorful and, at the time, relevatory in their reproduction. Even the chapter drawn by Rick Leonardi subverts, to some extent, his usual, very distinctive style to something more akin to Cheung's. One chapter is almost exclusively double-page spreads, albeit with many inset panels, and those (the double-page spreads) tend to show up much better in the original comics than they do in the trades (which don't lay flat), but even they are impressive. This is probably one of the more unfortunate losses due to CrossGen's implosion a decade ago.
February 7, 2012
CrossGen was a comic company set-up circa 1999 with an intent to challenge Marvel and DC. By 2004, for a variety of reasons, they were bankrupt and much of their talent dispersed to Marvel and DC. Nonetheless, the did manage to create some interesting titles that are being revived today (Ruse and Mystic).
Scion tells the story of Ethan, an heir of the Heron dynasty, who unwittingly revives a centuries long war with the Raven dynasty. The setting is the world of Avalon, a high-tech world but one where knights use energized swords, ride dragons and the like. This volume collects the first seven issues of the comic.
Not the most original comic there has been. If you are up on your Hal Foster Prince Valiant and Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon, you’ll recognize a variety of borrowed plot elements. The artwork isn't bad at all (but then a lot of the CrossGen crowd now draw for Marve and DC).
Scion tells the story of Ethan, an heir of the Heron dynasty, who unwittingly revives a centuries long war with the Raven dynasty. The setting is the world of Avalon, a high-tech world but one where knights use energized swords, ride dragons and the like. This volume collects the first seven issues of the comic.
Not the most original comic there has been. If you are up on your Hal Foster Prince Valiant and Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon, you’ll recognize a variety of borrowed plot elements. The artwork isn't bad at all (but then a lot of the CrossGen crowd now draw for Marve and DC).
April 15, 2014
Scion (and the other CrossGen comics) came out at a great comic reading time in my teens. Scion, was the CrossGen title I enjoyed the most, and thus, in this "rediscovering comics of my youth phase", I am going back to read and enjoy it again.
Combining both fantasy and sci-fi elements, Scion is also a great coming-of-age tale about Ethan. In this Volume, he goes through his "rite of passage" to adulthood, and inadvertently is the catalyst for a war between two countries that have had peace, albeit a shaky one, for many generations. Also involving itself in Ethan's life is "The Sigil", seen as a Yin Yang tattoo, bestowed upon him by an entity, that gives him powers that at this point in the story, are unknown to him, being revealed in future volumes to come.
I quite enjoyed this reread (though I apparently had forgotten much) and will continue through this series, hopefully to its end this time.
Definite Recommend.
Combining both fantasy and sci-fi elements, Scion is also a great coming-of-age tale about Ethan. In this Volume, he goes through his "rite of passage" to adulthood, and inadvertently is the catalyst for a war between two countries that have had peace, albeit a shaky one, for many generations. Also involving itself in Ethan's life is "The Sigil", seen as a Yin Yang tattoo, bestowed upon him by an entity, that gives him powers that at this point in the story, are unknown to him, being revealed in future volumes to come.
I quite enjoyed this reread (though I apparently had forgotten much) and will continue through this series, hopefully to its end this time.
Definite Recommend.
Want to Read
July 23, 2012De grands navires parcourent les mers munis de syst�mes de propulsions sophistiqu�s, des chevaliers en armure chevauchent des dragons volants n�s de manipulations g�n�tiques. Cette ma�trise du vivant a aussi permis la cr�ation de races inf�rieures d�vou�es au service des deux grandes dynasties qui semblent dominer cette plan�te. Les Heron de l'Ouest et les Raven de L'Est entretiennent une paix difficile reposant sur un �quilibre pr�caire bas� sur des joutes annuelles. Lors d'un tournoi, un ph�nom�ne inattendu issu de puissances sup�rieures au dessein inconnu perturbe l'�preuve. Ethan, jeune h�ritier des Heron affronte le cruel Bron, repr�sentant des Raven, et le blesse gravement, entra�nant les deux royaumes au bord de la guerre.
February 18, 2008
This now defunct company put out some pretty decent stuff for a while. i enjoyed sojourn more than this title but the art work was great and there was an epic feel to this title that you don't find with a lot of mainstream comics. Credit cross gen for their ambitious start but view theirs as a cautionary tale – pay you talent. Disappointing that some of these titles ended w/o closure but maybe someday, someone will come along and bring these characters back to life.
July 1, 2015
"Servants in the West, slaves in the East. You find either one truly acceptable? I'm part of a group that means to put an end to it. We want freedom for the lesser races. Equality."
Well, here's a thought: maybe step one could be coming up with something other than lesser races to call them?
Well, here's a thought: maybe step one could be coming up with something other than lesser races to call them?
September 22, 2008
Reprints Scion #1-7 and Crossgen Chronicles #1. Ethan Heron gains a sigil during a tournament a start a war between the Herons and the Ravens. Scion is an average Crossgen series. The art is good and the story is average.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews