The 13th Artifact is a one-shot publication about an astronaut who along with her dead husband lands on a highly developed world poisoned by pollution and enslaved by demons. She is captured and brought before their leader, who attempts to read her mind and find out where she is from, but not before she learns of the destruction of their world through reliance on fossil fuels and a pact with an unholy monk. The human-like race now lives in slavery.
This is a clever little story, the product of the 2015 Top Cow Talent Hunt winners, Amit Chauhan and Eli Powell, published on Image Comics. Chauhan is the writer, and Powell is the illustrator. The dark cityscapes of the ruined metropolis are deeply detailed, and when the astronaut sees the poor beings ruled by demons, she thinks, "have I landed in hell?" The color schemes by colorist, Andrew Elder, range from split triadic to just plain dark. This is a noir space drama. Troy Peteri is the letterer, and the highlight of his work is the lettering of the demonspeak.
I don't buy too many one-shots, and Image Comics doesn't print many of them, the latter being part of what makes this title so special. Image Comics has had years of seriously quality comics for adults. I'm not kidding; their quality is off the charts, and damn near everything they put out is good or great. When I buy comics on Wednesdays, I may read Marvel Comics first, but I read Image Comics the most.
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