Keanu Reeves, Matt Kindt, and Ron Garney’s Brzrkr comes to an epic conclusion with Brzrkr #12! It was revealed that B. is the warrior, Unute, has been fighting 80,000 years ago! His eyes glow blue when he gets into a violent, unstoppable state. He was analyzed by Caldwell who it turns out secretly worked for a cult and siphond away Unute’s power! On the scientific team was Diana who is now B.’s ally and tranformed by the “red lightning” energy in issue #8! In the following issue, Unute encounters his cosmic father, but returns to Earth. Last issue, B. is struck with energy from a silver, eagle-like form, but it is drained by a satellite to be transmitted to Caldwell and his soldiers! Unute is now mortal and now faces Caldwell! Spoilers ahead! The white cover by Garney features B. His face dark with energy crackling across it with Diana by her side in uniform, Caldwell silhouetted in black, and Keever with his binocular. The conclusion starts with the two forces of Keever and Caldwell clashing on the battlefield. Keever’s rifle shot goes through Caldwell and blasts apart his soldier’s head!
Caldwell runs with a berzerker scream, Keever fires another shot with similar results, and Unute picks himself. His torso is bleeding and Diana reminds him that he is human. He replies that he knows how to fight, thousands of years of combat experience!, and takes away the rifle of one of Caldwell’s men. Diana is captured by two of the soldiers. Unute uses automatic fire killing the soldiers around them! Diana’s narration reflects that she didn’t want the power as her eyes crackle with black energy. All horizontal panels arranged by Garney. Caldwell races towards Unute. The cannon fire from one of Caldwell’s military jeeps destroys one of Keever’s units. He calls for a retreat. Unute opens fire on the savage Caldwell, but he is tackled by the madman. Still, he is able to kick off Caldwell, but is wounded. Diana uses her power to throw off the soldiers. Caldwell growls and Diana is ready for him. The black energy weaves around them both. It streams out of Diana’s eyes as she takes Caldwell’s hands and - rips off his arms! The fight scene goes from the blue of Brzrkr’s energy to purple with Diana’s eyes and then red with the violent scene, kudos to colorist Bill Crabtree!
The armless, fallen Caldwell growls incoherently, still alive, Keever rolls up in his jeep. Then, Unute takes away the silver eagle. Keever calls for an airstrike from a stealth bomber. Its payload levels the battlefield! Diana becomes sick and she explains that the reaction is like when she was pregnant! Afterwards, a soldier collects the head of Caldwell. Diana explians that the HQ needed Unute to try to contact the “intelligence” that sent him. In a darkned control room, contact was made by scientist as Unute’s father sends the message, “hELLO”, but then we see soldiers in decontamination suits burn the scientists with flamethrowers! Diana’s narration continues that the “Franken-B” made out of Unute’s lost body parts was lost, we see a Frankenstein’s Creature-like leave the destroyed lab and run into the woods! A horror element to the action, superheroic battles, and surreal encounters! We move to the HQ safehouse, in a wooden fort-lie structure in snowy Virginia. A scientist has tested Unute and his readings are normal. In a dining room, a female doctor is checking Diana while Keever watches.
The HQ sphere asks the due date and she replies possibly a week. Later, Keever meets with the sphere watching the security screens and given the order to kill Unute and “preserve” Diana! Keever walks into a room with Unute seated and bandaged. He tells Diana via their earpieces that Keever is there to kill him. Unute walks to the window as Keever holds a gun to his head. The lights go out and Unute ducks the gunshot. Black energy takes out the soldier guard as Diana enters! We see a full vertical panel as she explains that she can shut off Keever’s heart just like the lights. She leaves with Unute. As they reach the porch, the HQ sphere says that her children belong to them. She blasts it with her power and says she can find help as they walk into the moonlight. Sunset at a church in Tuscany, Italy. A soldier knocks at the door and met by a mysterious man in googles. At the American South-West, Seline introduces Unute to Songaa who are there to help him on his journey. She will act as the midwife to Diana. We see in a photograph, Unute with a Native American hunter. Seline says the “Ancients” found Caldwell’s head, but lost track of him in Malta. Gruesome!
Diana reveals that she is carrying twins. Shades of Padme Amidala, but very mythical. Seline checks on Diana and points out Unute to his room. Songaa and Seline help deliver the babies, who do not cry!, and Diana breastfeeds her children. Next, we find grassy fields from winter to spring, Unute and Diana watch her kids play while sitting on a porch. At a night campfire, Unute tells Diana that the twins, unnamed, don’t berserker. They later hold hands watching the twins play wiht the dog. At night, they are asleep when the twins at the foot of the bed. They take their parents outside to see two drones in the sky. Diana blasts them. Some Firestarter vibes. Unute goes to his trunk to load up on weapons. Three attack helicopters head towards the family. Unute tells his kids to get inside the house. Soldiers repel down and Diana destroys one of the helicopters. Unute returns as a soldier throwing a grendade and fires with an M-16. He is able to fight the soldiers, but a bullet pierces his wrist, very mortal. He takes out the pin of a grenade and then shoves a soldier into a helicopter. It explodes sending him backwards, a bloody mess!
Diana unleashes her power throwing a head off a soldier!, but she is struck by a rifle butt! Keever gives the order for the soldiers to “Secure the kids.” Their eyes flare blue. Their parents remark, “No” seeing the berserker in their children. The twins start to rip apart the soldiers, the boy bites into Keever’s throat until Unute shouts for them to stop. They look up, the girl’s eyes turn red, and they restrain themselves. Keever walks away and sees Unute in a pool of his blood. Diana sends Keever off, he again says “See you on the other side” to her. Technically, Diana left him alive even though he eventually killed her husband. She kneels at her husband’s side and asks her kids if they can help, but they say no. Unute tries to tell Diana about his purpose, that it is his time, and then thanks her. We see the stars, the fires of the battle, as the family is at Unute’s dead body in blood. Incredible image! Then, we have the image in black, Diana closes her husband’s eyes. The next morning we see the grave marker, the silver bird, as they pay their respects along with Seline and Songaa. We are told it is “days later”, Diana is wakened again by the twins. They say it is time to begin their lives, the cycle continues.
They say, “It’s so wonderful” and show their mother that they have each red and blue energy of both parents. Sunrises at a HQ base as Keever sees a sphere which says, “It’s a new day.” We go back to the Tuscany church at sunset, it is reddish and see what looks almost like a pantomime theater with curtains. The congregants eat the flesh of the head and torso of the half-formed Caldwell. At a house in the blue of the night, the corpse-like Franken-B stares at a house with blue eyes the color of berserker energy. Diana’s thoughts are that HQ thinks Unute was a seed. We see the twins at red lit The Bar, they meet a couple, and walk different directions. Next, Diana is the edge of a sea cliff lit by the setting sun and brilliant colors. She asks for Unute. A sun rises as we see the egg-like pod with Unute emerging from it resurrected. Diana asks if he can come back. It is a red sky with strange alien shapes. It has the feel of alien Edgar Rice Burroughs worlds like Barsoom! Unute looks up at an alien sky of triple suns and says that he will find a way back to her! Still, he says it will take some time. We see a collection of huts like his early days and then Unute’s eyes open red and blue as Diana tells him to hurry. This is a stunning end to the Brzrkr series which combines comic books, bit of the ultra-violence, a splash of history, a mythical journey, and a touch of sci fi, impressive!
Five Protocols out of Five!
#Brzrkr, #KeanuReeves, #MattKindt, #RonGarney, #Unute, #Diana, #Seline, #Keever, #Caldwell
