SYNOPSIS: A woman kneels in quiet contemplation in a candlelit room. A grinning killer, Lo, appears in her doorway, telling her he has slain her entire school of martial arts students and that she, Hark Ah Lien, is next. All he requires is the secret of the “night’s stars attack.” Hark tells him she knows that if he lives, a great darkness will come over China, and that her school was created specifically to stop him -- to ensure that the sun would always come up. She then attacks, first with a swath of flame drawn from the candle, then with her own fighting skills. At the end, Lo receives the secret he craved, as the night stars consume him utterly.
In the present, Anna Hark concludes her tale to Elijah Snow, telling him “there will always be a Hark to ensure that the sun comes up.” If her goal was to impress or intimidate Snow, it fails; Snow remarks that she need not fear him. He further reveals that he has information that she does not, concerning the death of her father and the disposition of her employee, James Wilder. But that she must give up her connections with The Four (“murderers, thieves, torturers, and betrayers”), and join with Planetary.
Hark acknowledges their evil but claims she has used the association to do much good. “Crumbs, from a very rich table,” responds Snow. He tells her he plans to remove The Four from the planet, and further, that he knows that Wilder’s transformation (Issue #4) was no accident….that Hark was hoping to create a superhuman.
Hark acquiesces to Snow’s demands, and asks to see Wilder. He appears, god-like, and Snow smiles as they talk. Another blow struck against The Four.
REVIEW: Two full years passed between Issue #15 and Issue #16. Not in the series, in the real world. This is not even an exaggeration; two full years. I say this not to bitch and moan about it, because nobody owed me anything. I say it just to point out that the momentum of the main storyline is, naturally, somewhat blunted. Oh sure, there were a couple of one-shots, one of which actually even featured the Planetary cast. Not the same thing, though; while Planetary/Batman was quite good, further the story it did not.
That said, to the series' credit, by the time I finished the issue, I was right back into it. Had to go back to Issue #4; had to zip back to Issue #8; even had to refer back to #1. I'm sure I'll have read 'em all again before #17 shows up, which should be a lot closer to two months from now than two years.
Credit Cassaday's art, which is a whole lot better (and it was already great) than ever before. Indeed, this issue is primarily his show; dialogue is minimal and the script is fairly straightforward. Snow gives Ms. Hark the score and she has little choice but to accept. The memorable moments are Hark's battle with Lo and, of course, the dramatic appearance of James Wilder. Both will keep me coming back to this issue a lot more than Snow's matter-of-fact threats.
In short, the issue was fun, but clearly a stage-setter. Snow has built his team, and having struck a blow against The Four in #15, he has now taken one of their allies. Before long we'll find out just what the Hark Corporation can bring to the white hats; from what we've seen of The Four, it will have to be a lot for Snow to make good on his promise.
