‘The Mummy #4’ Review
Written by Peter Milligan | Art by Ronilson Freire | Published by Titan/Hammer Comics
Last issue saw radical moves for pretty much all the pieces on the chessboard that is The Mummy. Prior to this we had had a lot of scene setting, of establishing character and their role in the story, and a definite focus on Angel herself. Issue 3 widened the spotlight from Angel and Duncan to the two main antagonists, The Anubis sect and the Pyramid Club. Suddenly Angel wasn’t the centre of the story at all, but collateral damage between two pretty ruthless and nasty groups of mortal foes. No black and white here, just differing shades of grey.
Angel, herself fighting off the slow transition into mummification and possession, finds herself wanted by both The Sect of Anubis and The Pyramid Club. Neither side have her best interests at heart, though Pyramid Club member Duncan Clarke is trying his best to help her. That would be the knight in maybe not so shining armour who we found out last issue has a as of yet undisclosed dodgy past. The Sect of Anubis are all over the place, desperate to complete the ceremony they need to maintain their artificially long lives. Their tactics have included kidnappings and, as if I could forget, the revival of Kharis, the immortal Egyptian priest held in a magical coma by them for 138 years. He was a tad cranky when he woke up. The Pyramid Club’s master plan? kill everyone.
Issue 3 left us with a lot to ponder, but mainly concern for Angel. Subject to a spell that compels her to return to The Sect, she had gone missing. Duncan has found her, but also needs to find the original Mummy used in the ceremony that must be destroyed. Unknown to everyone, newly revived Mummy Kharis is on the loose hunting Angel/ Nebetah, and The Sect of Anubis are driving around London hunting Angela down. Yikes, Scoob!
Safe for now with Duncan, Angel sleeps, but her dreams are invaded by Nebetah. The two of them fight on the dream plain, with Angel trying to make Nebetah understand she is as much a slave here as herself. Nebetah is genuinely shocked to find she has been effectively captive for three thousand years, not thirty, and Angel reawakes. Just in time to hear The Pyramid Club men telling Duncan they not only plan to let Angel get taken, but once The Sect of Anubis have been defeated, they want a little bit of that immortality themselves. Just a taste you understand, and just to do good. Not sure who is more horrified, Duncan or Angel.
Turns out it’s Angel as, once she tests Duncan and he doesn’t reveal the truth to her, she decides to make a run for it. She doesn’t get far, only as far as the people trafficker who originally found her for The Sect. Luckily for us, though not luckily for him, Kharis rolls up and tries to ingratiate his mummified self with Angel/Nebetah by brutally killing said trafficker. Kharis reveals to Angel that he has duped Nebetah all these centuries by making her think each new girl she possesses is the first, wiping her memory each time. Angel decides the time for running is over, and invites Nebetah to take her over completely, hoping that a Nebetah who is now self aware is well placed to help her fight back.
Another good issue, with plenty of action, intrigue, twists and turns. Aggressors become victims, victims become aggressors, Milligan keeps it all very fluid. There are no real heroes here, just innocence lost. The art and colouring suit the tone of the story well, though I would say technically I find it lacking a little something. Doesn’t detract from the story in any way though.
So that’s one more issue done and dusted. Let’s see how The Mummy gets wrapped up next month (ahem).
***½ 3.5/5
The Mummy #4 is out now from Titan/Hammer Comics.
