Scion (comics)
Scion was an American comic book published by CrossGen Entertainment from July 2000 to April 2004. It was cancelled due to the bankruptcy of Crossgen Comics Inc in 2004.
Plot synopsis
The story of Scion mainly concerns Ethan, youngest prince of the Heron Dynasty. He is accompanied by Skink, a member of the Lower Races and his best friend. While the Heron and Raven Dynasties have been at war for hundreds of years, there exists at the beginning of the tale a relative peace between the two Kingdoms. This peace doesn't last.Ethan is later joined by Ashleigh, the princess of the Raven dynasty, and a bounty hunter named Exeter, who is a genetically modified humanoid. The main antagonist is Prince Bron of the Raven Dynasty, the older brother of Ashleigh. Bron is determined to kill Ethan and Ashleigh.
The group experience many events, most notably a war between the Heron and Raven kingdoms, the establishment of a free nation for the lower races and an invasion by an army of mechanical robots.
Skink is secretly an agent of greater powers, being a fragment of Danik. Bron's advisor Mai Shen is really a member of The First.
The final issue ends with Ethan and his father caught in a nuclear explosion. An added short narrative scene, taking place hundreds of years in the future, assures readers that Ethan does escape the blast.
Characters
- Ethan is of the five original sigil-bearing characters introduced by way of CrossGen's first four flagship titles ''. Ethan is the youngest son of King Dane and Queen Mariella, the ruling monarchs of the Heron Dynasty, a nation inherent to a continent placed in what is considered the western portion of the planet Avalon. He has two older brothers, Artor and Kai, and an older sister, Ylena.
- Bron is the oldest son of King Viktor of the Raven Dynasty. He is a ruthless and brutal man who suffers a bad facial scar during a ritual combat with Prince Ethan of the Heron Dynasty. Bron is a very dangerous fighter and a ruthless monster of a man.
- Ashleigh is a Raven Princess and sister to Bron.
- Bernd Rechts is a military advisor to the Heron Dynasty. Rechts is one of the self-styled gods called The First, and was sent to monitor Prince Ethan, the Sigil-Bearer. Rechts appeared as a quiet thinker, dressed in green. He seems to have a good understanding of military strategy.
- Nadia is the traveler from the kingdom of Tigris.
Comics and books
CrossGen also published four trade paperback books collecting the first half of the series. A fifth and sixth volume were announced but never released due to CrossGen's bankruptcy. Checker Book Publishing Group subsequently announced they would be releasing volumes five and sixth after licensing the rights to a number of CrossGen titles from Disney. They only ended up releasing Volume Six. Volume Five: The Far Kingdom remains unpublished.
| Title | Binding | Material collected | Publication date | ISBN |
| Scion Volume 1: Conflict of Conscience | Trade Paperback | Scion #1–7 | May, 2001 | |
| Scion Volume 2: Blood for Blood | Trade Paperback | Scion #8-14, CrossGen Chronicles #2 | March, 2002 | |
| Scion Volume 3: Divided Loyalties | Trade Paperback | Scion #15-21 | October, 2002 | |
| Scion Volume 4: Sanctuary | Trade Paperback | Scion #22-27 | March, 2003 | |
| Scion Volume 6: The Royal Wedding | Trade Paperback | Scion'' #34-39 | January, 2008 |