As Pigeon’s life crumbles, he longs for his family, but they are gone. Frustration turns to questions then thoughts of revenge. Can Aquatica help him find any of the answers he seeks? Find out in The Sacrificers #9 from Image Comics!

THE SACRIFICERS #9

Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Max Fiumara
Colorist: Dave McCaig
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Editor: Harper Jaten
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 26, 2024

Previously in The Sacrificers: Luna has vanished, and the tides and storms run rampant. Pigeon now carries within himself the strength of a god, but he is determined to return to his family. He finds the farm in ruins and everyone has gone. He travels to the city of Harlos, where Noom is from, to talk to the King. The King has fled, but the High Priest brings him to the temple. Their discussion turns to a discussion of the paradise Pigeon was sent to. When Pigeon describes what it was really like, the Priest tells him that is not important. What is important is that things are no longer running smoothly. Pigeon, he says, should complete his responsibility as a sacrifice to restore balance to the world.

RIDING THE TIDE OF VENGEANCE

The Sacrificers #9 opens underwater, in Aquatica’s realm. Aquatica is distressed. His people called on him and needed him, and he was powerless to help. His wife, Luroxum, insists that this catastrophe is Luna’s doing and he could not have done anything. If anything, they are the true victims of Luna’s sinister plot to punish the gods. Aquatica still knows deep down that he was never a true god. I like the contrast between the two of them, one feeling guilt for what he was unable to do, and one happy to project responsibility onto someone else.

The alarm goes off. An intruder has arrived. It is Pigeon. He came here by instinct and feels detached as his body feels like it is acting independently of him. And in that state, his strength is fierce, and he slaughters the guards. After a life where he was completely powerless, he now has more power than he could have dreamed of. Perhaps the years of pain and suffering fuel him now as he demands to see Aquatica.

Aquatica comes to him and lashes out with water. Pigeon stands up to him and calls him a fraud for not being able to stand up and protect his own people. Aquatica assumes he is some kind of assassin and demands to know who sent him. Pigeon claims he is here in the name of revenge, revenge for Beatrice and all the others who died in the storms. Aquatica insists he is one of the people who started from nothing and created the utopia Pigeon lived in, and all he ever did was to become selfish and arrogant. Pigeon counters that he was born to be sacrificed so that those so-called gods could prolong their lives. Aquatica is shaken. He did not know.

Pigeon wants to make him understand what it actually feels like to have to sacrifice something. He strikes one of the columns and the room collapses, crushing Luroxum. Pigeon is brought to his senses. That is not what he meant to do. But Luroxum is the only person who ever loved Aquatica. He fiercely grabs Pigeon and surrounds him with water, drowning him.

But Pigeon’s weapon burns with fire, vaporizing the water. He tells Aquatica that he had his opportunity to make the world a better place, and he did not do it. His time has come to an end. And Pigeon realizes that he has the opportunity to rebuild the world this time.

AS THE WORLD CRUMBLES

The art of The Sacrificers #9 plunges us into the breathtakingly beautiful land underwater where Aquatica rules. His palace looks like the sort of structure you see on land, except that the mountainside it rests on looks like a coral reef, teeming with life. Inside, the palace is dry. The gates and windows hold back the sea from pouring in. But Aquatica himself is made from water, water that takes on a humanoid form, although his arms and legs can shift into tentacles when necessary. He is so personified that his expressions and his despair come across as intensely real. His guards have a more physical form, and I like their designs, humanoid yet still maintaining features of denizens of the deep.

The Pigeon that we see here is not the same confused young boy we met at the start of the story. He seems different, almost alien. After a lifetime of having no choice in anything that happened to him, he is in control, except that through the text boxes where we see his thoughts, it is almost like he is not fully in control. All the pain he has been repressing since he was little has an outlet in the raw power that he is filled with now. Even so, there are moments when his original nature shines through. But it is a major shift in his character to see the swathe of destruction that follows him.

BOTTOM LINE: THE BALANCE OF POWER SHIFTS

The Sacrificers #9 is intense and uses the story to focus on ideas of power, responsibility, and consequences. The apparent stability of centuries is crumbling, and it is hard to imagine what it will take to rebuild it.

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