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Magic... the kind of magic that can strip the skin from a screaming man's skull, or direct the path of a shrieking bullet through a maze of city streets. This is not just magic. This is Combat Magic. Sergeant Major William Gravel, Warren Ellis' cult-hit sensation from the pages of STRANGE KISS and STRANGE KILLINGS, is a Combat Magician and an S.A.S. soldier. Home from wartorn Afghanistan to London, he just wants to relax and have a pint. Instead, he finds that another has taken his place in the mysterious enclave of Britain's seven Occult Detectives, each of which now holds a scrap of the Sigsand Manuscript, a supernatural device that could bestow its wielders with vile and terrifying power. So the pint will have to wait... a few people need killing first.
About the author
Warren Ellis is the award-winning British author of comic books, novels, and television, most often recognized for his sociocultural commentary and ground-breaking work in the genre of science fiction. His most recognizable works include Transmetropolitan, Planetary, and The Authority. He maintains a consistent online presence which includes the weekly delivery of the FREAKANGELS web comic to millions of fans. Ellis has published over 25 different creator-owned projects through Avatar Press (including BLACK SUMMER, IGNITION CITY, and GRAVEL, the last of which is in development as a film through Legendary Pictures), with many more planned.
Summary
William Gravel carves a bloody path of death in his first full-color collection! Gravel Volume 1 features the first eight issues (#0-7) of this on-going series from Warren Ellis and co-writer Mike Wolfer with art by Raulo Caceres and Oscar Jimenez, as well as a special cover gallery! Long-buried and lost in antiquity, a unique book of magic once existed, filled with such extraordinary and arcane spells, supernatural rites, and inherent power that its possessor would be either unequaled, or driven irrevocably insane. Recently unearthed, the Sigsand Manuscript has been divided into six pieces and distributed among the Minor Seven, Britain's great Occult Detectives. With the Sigsand in their grasp, the Seven now wield more power than they were ever meant to possess - and William Gravel is not happy about it. Once a member of their Order but unceremoniously replaced within their ranks, the SAS Sergeant Major and Combat Magician is on a mission of revenge, redemption, and quite possibly rebirth, as he takes on the members of the Minor Seven one-by-one. And God help each of Gravel's former colleagues should they decide not to relinquish their sections of the Sigsand to the one man who might have the supernatural skills and restraint to use the reconstituted manuscript without accidentally destroying the Earth in the process. They all promised to use the unholy power wisely, but Gravel knows they are all Bloody Liars!
