THIS is how you write an empowered female character. Take note, fans…this is how you do it.

Glory #23 is the latest of the Extreme Studio relaunches, in which Image assigns new creators to the 90s-rific titles of Rob Liefeld’s Extreme line of comics, and more or less gave them carte blanche to continue the respective title’s stories. The relaunch of Glory directly follows Prophet, and kind of takes the opposite route in reintroducing the character. Whereas Prophet forged onwards at a breakneck pace in order to establish mystery and intrigue, Glory spent its debut issue laying down ground for its titular character’s incredibly rich history. In fact, if I were to describe this issue in one word, it would in fact be RICH. Joe Keatinge does a great job in using his script to paint a roadmap through Glory’s past adventures throughout the years. From her origins to her tank-punching days in WWII to her campy team up with the teenage poodle-skirted Danger Damsels, Keatinge makes it abundantly clear this this is a character who’s past adventures are ones that you’ll want to follow, and subsequently builds up the anticipation for future ones.

Equal praise has to be given to Ross Campbell, though. Its his pencils that truly sells the tone and look of this book and makes it a top contender for best new series. To keep this review succinct, I’ll focus on his character model for Glory herself. Campbell’s Glory is a character who is both sexy and empowered, and I’m not saying this in a sarcastic tone. Too often, creators and fans confuse “sexually exploited” and empowered, as they try to explain away the not-so-subtle trend in most comics to titillate the audiences under the guise of a story that isn’t supposed to be titillating. Sex in comics surely isn’t something bad, but let’s call a spade a spade when it’s the case: these creators aren’t framing these female characters in impossible poses that show off their ass and boobs at the same time to “empower” them…they’re doing it in a cheap attempt for you to pop some wood. The best thing about Campbell’s Glory is that he doesn’t need to resort to these tactics in order to make her gorgeous. She has a soft beautiful face, not unlike a geisha. Her body build is like a football player, but with all of the curves and features that make a woman inherently attractive. She has all the features of a beautiful woman who can punch a hole through a Nazi tank. THAT, my friends, is sexy and empowered.

Glory #23 hooked me like no other series has hooked me in a long time. While the story in this issue jumped around quite a bit, there’s no denying that it properly caused the tongues of your minds to salivate in anticipation of the rich adventure to come. Buy this book. BUY THIS BOOK. If you can’t afford it, drop a title that you’re lukewarm about an pick this up in its place. You’re going to want to watch this series unfurl.