"Zokk" me, this book is "Flarking" garbage!
Review for Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard 3-A

I guess the Imperial Guard are one of those marvel properties that should have been left in obscurity. In complete contrast to what I would have predicted, the more I am exposed to these sentries of the Shi’Ar the less interesting they become.

This series seemed to have two main objectives when it started: 1. Send a scout team to learn more about the cosmic anomaly know as the Fault. 2. Depict Gladiator’s struggles with being removed from the front line and placed on the Shi’Ar throne.

Well, after three issues, Gladiator has done little but sit on the throne and think about how boring it is to be emperor and the scout team has barely even entered the Fault! That leaves two issues to answer some questions and bring some excitement into this series. In my experience, that is a tall order.

I am also not appreciating the way Abnett and Lanning are portraying the Imperial Guard. To have them all standing around bickering about whether Gladiator should be emperor is completely out of character. They have always been an efficient squad of warriors, blindly loyal to the Shi’Ar throne. Now, their immediate commander and loyal friend; not to mention one the toughest S.O.B.’s in the galaxy, has taken the throne and there is dissension? Especially Fang expressing that he should be Emperor. Are you freaking kidding me! Gladiator needs to drop a small moon on this guy’s head! And all of the alien swearing (“Zokk me!”, “Cancel that flarking alarm!”, “Holy flark!”, and so on) is beyond annoying. It is juvenile writing and makes it hard for me to take the characters seriously.

I am disappointed that I have bought into this series, but I should have known better. I am not high on cosmic stories and have found that i am even less intrigued by the writing of Abnett and Lanning. There is a nice surprise waiting for cosmic fans on the last page, but I don’t have much hope for this series panning out. I’ll buy the last two issues to complete the series, but if I had a time machine, I would go back and take a chance on two unknown Indy books instead of wasting my hard earned money on this rubbish.