"Days Missing: Enox" Graphic Novel Review

Written by James Ferguson

Published by American Mythology Productions

days missing enox 00

Written by Phil Hester
Illustrated by Felipe Watanabe
Colored by Cirque Studios
2016, 136 Pages
Graphic Novel released on November 9th, 2016

Review:

The Steward has protected the human race for ages, stepping in when things got out of hand or we looked like we were going to destroy ourselves.  He has a unique ability to fold time, erasing a day to give humanity a do-over.  This has worked for centuries until he met a powerful adversary in Enox, who has been undoing the Steward's work, putting the days back and wreaking havoc with the timeline.  Now the Steward faces his greatest challenge yet and it has come from his own loins.  That's right, folks.  It's father vs. son with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.

Each volume of Days Missing has worked to showcase different aspects of the Steward.  The first volume shows his successes.  The second shows some of his failures.  This one is somewhere in the middle.  He has trouble processing the sheer idea of Enox, deciding to flee and hide instead of confronting the problem head on.  Meanwhile, Enox is killing and enslaving thousands of people and destroying all of the Steward's hard work.

Click image to enlarge

Enox's motivations are rather suspect.  He exists as a result of the universe almost being erased at the end of the second volume, when the Steward and Kestus have a sort of mind-meld and reset everything.  He's bitter about being born or something, like an angry teenager, lashing out as his parents.  He has the Steward's power to fold time and Kestus' ability to remember everything.  This makes for a dangerous combination when he decides the human race isn't worth saving.  He should rule over it instead.  This decision isn't very clear.  He basically shows up and immediately becomes a super villain.

The Steward's reaction to this is pretty lackluster.  He's not a hero in the traditional sense in that he's not going to run into a battle and punch a bad guy in the face.  He's more of an intelligent adventurer, working in the shadows to help accomplish monumental goals.  That set of skills is useless against someone as powerful and reckless as Enox.  Instead, he relies on some of the humans he's saved throughout the years to essentially fight for him.  I guess that's sort of the point in this whole story, huh?

Days Missing: Enox revisits a number of aspects from the story to date, mainly the hadron collider and how it can nullify the Steward's powers.  It ties up loose ends that weren't necessarily loose to begin with.  More importantly, you see how Enox's changes have affected the present day.  There are plenty of callbacks and even some nice references to days the Steward erased that we never saw.  My favorite is the shock on his face when he finds out about Adolf Hitler, an angry man he had previously turned to a life of art.

Click images to enlarge

Enox's design is such that he instantly brings a feeling of hatred or at the bare minimum, annoyance.  He's pompous and petulant with a constant sneer on his face.  His hair is jet black with a streak of white, making it look like a greasy skunk has camped out on his head.  He is the amalgamation of every egotistical douchebag and rich kid villains from ‘80s movies.  He's never been told “No,” so he does what he pleases and no one is powerful enough to stop him.  

Despite the strange battle between the two characters, Days Missing: Enox builds to an impressive climax that more than earns the Roddenberry name on the front cover.  The book says, “From the name that brought you Star Trek,” and that gives you a perfect idea of the type of fan it's made for.  If you're a fan of Star Trek, you will love this comic.  It's not an overt action story.  It's more of a thinking man's science fiction with world-ending stakes.  While the Steward and Enox do come to blows, the more important battle is through the mind as they have to out-think one another to find their way to victory.

Grades:

Story: threestars Cover
Buy from Amazon US
Cover
Buy from Amazon US
Cover
Buy from Amazon UK
Cover
Buy from Amazon UK
Art: fourstars
Overall: 3.5 Star Rating

This page includes affiliate links where Horror DNA may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

James Ferguson
Lord of the Funny Books
James has a 2nd grade reading level and, as a result, only reads books with pictures. Horror is his 5th favorite genre right after romantic comedy and just before silent films. No one knows why he's here, but he won't leave.
Other articles by this writer

OBEY - CONSUME

Join Us!

Hit the buttons below to follow us, you won't regret it...