Days Missing is a five-issue comic book miniseries from Archaia Studios, produced in partnership with Rodenberry Productions.

Based on a concept by Roddenberry Productions executive Trevor Roth, Days Missing tells the stories of a mysterious being known only as “The Steward.” His ability to literally “fold” days of time has allowed him to secretly remove critical days from our shared history that have forever changed the course of mankind.

The series is overseen by by editor Rob Levin, and is quite unique in the fact that it has no regular creative team, but rather, has a different creative team for each issue. As such, the series is more like a series of one-shots, with each depicting a different instance in which “The Steward” has interacted with mankind to alter the flow of history. However, one creative team does appear twice, with Phil Hester and Frazer Irving handling both the first and final installments of the series.

The complete list of teams is as follows:

Issue #1
Writer: Phil Hester (The Darkness)
Artist: Frazer Irving (Batman and Robin, 2000 AD)
Dateline: November 11th, 2004
Event: The outbreak of a deadly disease called Swazi Fever

Issue #2
Writer: David Hine (Batman: Battle for the Cowl)
Artist: Chris Burnham (X-Men: Divided We Stand)
Dateline: September 12th, 1815
Event: The true origin of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Issue #3
Writer: Ian Edginton (Stormwatch)
Artist: Lee Moder (Legion of Super-Heroes)
Dateline: November 11th, 2004
Event: The explosion of the Large Hadron Collider

Issue #4
Writer: Matz (The Killer)
Artist: Hugo Petrus (Wolverine: First Class)
Dateline: April 21st, 1519
Event: The fall of the Aztec Empire

Issue #5
Writer: Phil Hester (Firebreather)
Artist: Frazer Irving (Azrael: Death’s Dark Knight)
Dateline: Unknown
Event: Unknown

Dale Keown (Pitt) is the cover artists on every issue, with variant covers from Frazer Irving and the interior artist of each issue.

The Story

In this fourth issue of the series, we find The Steward in the year 1519 aboard a ship leaving from Cuba, heading for Mexico.

Commanding this ship is Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, who was recently commissioned by Cuban Governor, Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, to conduct an expedition to explore and secure the interior of Mexico for colonization. At the last minute, due to the old gripe between Velázquez and Cortés, he changed his mind and revoked his charter. Cortés ignored the orders and went ahead anyway, in February 1519, in an act of open mutiny. Accompanied by about 11 ships, 500 men, 13 horses and a small number of cannons, he landed in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mayan territory.

Knowing the bloody history of colonization of the world by Europeans, The Steward has decided to observe this latest expedition, and attempt to alter its outcome if necessary.

When then get treated to a few snippets from Cortés’ early days in Mexico, such as him meeting Jeronimo de Aguilar, a Franciscan priest, had learned Maya during his captivity, and could thus translate for Cortés. We also see Cortés meet La Malinche, his future mistress and mother of his child Martín. Malinche knew both the (Aztec) Nahuatl language and Maya, thus enabling Hernán Cortés to communicate in both. She became a very valuable interpretor and counselor. Through her help, Cortés learned from the Tabascans about the wealthy Aztec Empire and its riches.

Pretty soon though, Cortés’ men begin to fall into the the predictable old patterns of conquerors, i.e. raping, murdering, and pillaging. Cortés is disgusted with his men, but due to the fact that he needs them all to defend against approaching Aztec soldiers, he cannot punish them. Legend has it that at this point Cortés decided to burn his fleet to make his men realize that this was their new home, and escape was not possible. However, at this point The Steward steps in, and it becomes apparent that things went rather differently.

We then get to see how The Steward was instrumental in the conquering of Mexico, and the fall of the Aztec Empire.

The Rating

This issue of Days Missing was written by the French comic book writer, Matz (Alexis Nolent), whose famous French language comic, Killer, was recently translated into English by Archaia. I think this may well be his first English language script, which is mighty impressive, because this is a pretty dense tale, and I can imagine quite a challenge to handle as your first foreign language story. Matz produces a really good script, which takes a rather complex historical event that lasted a period of several years, and boils it down to its essential details. He then finds an angle in which The Steward might be used, and inserts him seamlessly into the narrative. As this is only a 32-page comic book, certain sacrifices do have to be made though, and if you know the actual story of Spanish conquest of Mexico, you might find the story a little rushed, as some events that happen in quick succession in the story, actually took place years apart in reality. Another thing I found odd was that they went with the myth of Cortés burning his fleet, which is actually a misconception, and he actually scuttled the ships, but that’s just a minor point.

The Artist on this issue is Hugo Petrus, whose work you may be familiar with from Marvel’s Wolverine: First Class, and Dynamite’s Raise the Dead. Petrus produces some really gorgeous artwork for this issue of Days Missing, drawing everything from burning fleets of ships, to legions of Amazon warriors. His linework is really intricate, which accentuates the realism of this historical based tale, and his rich inking gives the story a very dark and foreboding feeling. This is some of the best artwork I’ve seen from Petrus yet, and some of the finest work on this series thus far; however, Frazer Irving’s issue is still THE best.

Days Missing #4 is another wonderful entry into what has been an incredibly memorable series. This series has had some truly talented creative teams involved with it, and Matz and Petrus add their names to these ranks with a brilliantly scripted and beautifully illustrated tale that shows how The Steward has been interacting with humanity throughout history, and even had a hand in shaping the modern world.

Days Missing has been a thoroughly impressive, high-concept, project, and is one of the best miniseries of the year. I give this series my highest recommendation, as it is one of the most entertaining books on the shelves. If you’ve not picked up Days Missing #1 – #3, not to worry, #4 can be read as a completely standalone issue. This is part of the beauty of the series,  as the issues are essential self-contained, but when read as a series make up parts of one big story.

Make sure to pick up Days Missing #4 when you go to the comic store this week, it’s an unmissable entry into this classic series!

Rating:

To see a seven-page preview of Days Missing #4 click here

To read the full first issue of Days Missing by Phil Hester and Frazer Irving, completely free of charge, click here

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