War is stirring in the underbelly of Philadelphia, and Belle must prepare to take on the thunder of gods! Find out more in Belle: Thunder of Gods by Zenescope Entertainment!

BELLE: THUNDER OF GODS

Writer: Dave Franchini
Artist: Ismael Canales
Colorist; Juan Manuel Rodriguez
Letterer: Kurt Hathaway
Editor: Dave Franchini
Publisher: Zenescope Entertainment
Cover Price: $5.99
Release Date: March 24th, 2021

Previously in Belle: Anabelle “Belle” DiMarco is a descendent of beast hunters. She keeps a sacred duty to keep the world safe from threats that are too dangerous for society to know about. In ancient times, the primordials made the Titans, the cyclops, the hundred handers, and the Olympians. One day, the Olympians asked the Cyclops to make them weapons and Zeus took a thunderbolt and trapped the titans in the prison of Tartarus for all eternity.

WHERE THEY CAME FROM

This issue has two perspectives. The modern day where Mel is trying to find out what is going on with Belle, and the flashback on how Belle got into the situation. In the present, Mel finds Belle in a burning building unconscious. As Belle recovers and tries to remember the exact situation, she remembers what she was hunting, a Cyclops.

Prior to that, Belle received a tip from Priya, and Mel fears it may be a trap. Since Belle doesn’t have access to as many resources as she did before, she figures to trust her source. At the location, she finds two men walking into a building. Following them, she sees a man being interrogated by a Cyclops called Mr. Brontes. Brontes ends up killing this man causing Belle to gasp in shock. Belle retreats a bit and finds a chained cyclops she met once before. This leads to a fight that sparks a fire in the building. Belle is knocked out. In the present, Belle shoots the Cyclops and escape with Mel!

OVERSIZED ISSUE

The first thing I wanted to talk about is the price. This is an expensive book, and you get about 32 pages worth of content. The story is solid, and you get a lot of information, but this isn’t a double issue that you would expect at that price. I’m not going to pretend to understand the nuance of deciding a price, but I figured I should be up front. I, as a writer, understand that people need to paid and these things are expensive, so I don’t mind seeing the price. Just know what you are getting.

Belle is an enjoyable book and I think this is a prelude to the next series. We get a lot of exposition on what Belle’s home life is like and who the villain of the next arc is going to be. This is exciting but I’m not seeing very much in larger themes that I can see. The setting saves the issue for me because I am interested to see what they do with the Cyclops and how it pertains to the Olympians and Titans. On top of that, I enjoy Zenescope’s art style. It feels dynamic and visually stimulating.

Lastly, Belle found a rifle/gun that could shoot lightning. I like the association with this weapon to Zeus’ thunderbolts. This is a cool parallel that I think could be missed.

BOTTOM LINE: NOT BAD

This is a good one-shot, but it doesn’t change my life or give me a lot to think about. It is just a simple adventure that probably sets up the next arc. I’m intrigued but I’m not quite excited. 3.5 out of 5 for this book from me.

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