Review by Ian Keogh

Four very different people awaken in cells hearing a voice in their heads identifying itself as Scion and telling them they’re gods. They certainly have super powers, which are necessary to break free from their prison and begin a mission to locate the Psi-Lords, who’ll be able to tell them what’s going on. Except it’s not as simple as that.

The Valiant Comics that launched in 2012 has gradually revived nearly all the properties conceived by their 1990s predecessor, but they waited a full decade before resurrecting Psi-Lords, which is inexplicable considering the original series was a great concept. Fred Van Lente takes a different tack on the same idea, using what were four very puzzled ordinary people finding their way into a dangerous new world.

Renato Guedes provides the full art, illustration and colour, and that’s largely good, but with some drawbacks. He doesn’t deviate greatly from close-ups on faces, which is to some extent unavoidable because there’s a lot of talking, and disguises the lack of backgrounds with imaginative swirls of colour. The art can be first rate with real feeling to the people and expressions, yet other pages are flat with the colour over-saturated. Colour has an additional importance as each of Artisan, Beacon, Hazard and Tank has a different shade associated with their abilities.

Beyond the mission set in motion at the start, matters are complicated by one of the cast being able to see the future, meaning their reactions in the present adjust according to things her team-mates haven’t yet done. The idea has legs, and the variety of the cast appeals, but Van Lente takes a fair journey before arriving at the critical point. Psi-Lords might have been better for that being reached earlier and more time available once the cast came to terms with what they’ve become and when an interesting new character has been introduced. Still, Van Lente’s method allows for a few surprises, and the dialogue accompanying the character interactions is sometimes a real treat when he’s not getting carried away.

With the main characters having lost their memories and then getting conflicting stories about Psi-Lords, Starwatchers and other aliens, trust becomes a big issue as Van Lente leads to a multi-level finale. Psi-Lords is flawed, and too long at eight chapters, but the ideas are big and there’s potential for the future. So far, though, that hasn’t manifested.