IN THIS ONE... A sick child is taken back to the past by a 9th-Century wizard.
REVIEW: Ok, break the mold, but not the characters! I don't know what to make of this one, honestly. Suddenly, Sapphire and Steel are at odds! I liked how we saw them a bit before the assignment (although they felt something stirring already), even if they still only talk shop. But once we're well into it and Sapphire needs to follow a missing boy back in time (with his new dog in tow), Steel becomes quite argumentative (which I agree he could be on the show) about getting to go instead. She tells him he can't because he'd bring a violent solution to the proceedings and later does allow him to follow her because he's really, really insistent. But is there a reason for this animosity between them? Not really. Is there even a reason for his needing to be there? Barely. He prevents some knights from attacking the evil wizard who wants to steal the boy's body so he can do some harm in the 20th Century. He can't interfere, so THEY can't interfere. But the boy's puppy bearing fangs and jumping the old sorcerer, that's okay. Best guess: Steel has been wanting to DO something since the first comic strip, but Allan doesn't know how to use him. He's grown impatient. Sadly, Allan still doesn't.
Where this particular strip wins points is with the artwork. Not only is Ransom adept at doing Ivanhoe-type chivalry comics, his use of color (or stark black and white) gives us some beautiful panels. The wizard menacing the boy at the end of chapter 1. The "tunnel of time" that looks like a smokey vortex or cave. The wizard's stuffed animals lending a horror atmosphere. It really is quite good. If the story, despite its character corruptions and strange logic, exists merely to give Ranson this opportunity, I won't complain too much.
READABILITY: Medium - Looks beautiful, but the format doesn't really allow disagreements to believably develop between the two leads.
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