Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

That is some of the loveliest artwork I've seen in graphic novels, and this is the interior art: this was what this whole volume was like.   It's spoiled me, to be honest.   And while, yes, this was all about sexualizing women (Aphrodite IX can be remotely controlled, and she's a seductress/infiltrator/assasin), there were a lot of panels that focused on her face, or the dragons Marcus' people created, or the men who weren't super sexualized like this. 

In other worlds, Aphrodite IX is highly problematic as a character (and at least one of the other IXs wasn't as hyper sexualized or problematic as she was) but it's also not mindless sex.   This is no porn without purpose, as there is an ideological, religious and socio-political world that is built for her rebirth.   I'm not sure if I feel that this world was delved into enough, or glossed over, but I'm hoping it was just a dual focus issue (the world and Aphrodite herself are given equal time) and that in the next volume, that dual focus will show more of this world's depths. 

And I was able to overlook some of this: she was intended to be hyper sexualized, and it was clearly not the way all women were in this world.   The ending.   The art was lovely enough to forgive almost anything.   The world was actually well built and obviously thoroughly considered. 

Here's hoping that issue two holds up as well!