The Second Stage Turbine Blade (comics)

Supercbbox| title = The Second Stage Turbine Blade
comic_color = background:#c0c0c0

|250px
caption = Cover of the Second Stage Turbine Blade Volume #1 first issue by Tony Moore (The Amory Wars release)
schedule =
format = Limited series
publisher = Evil Ink Comics (2004-2005)
Image Comics (2007-present)
date = 2005-present
issues = Volume #1 (5 issues)
Volume #2 (3 issues)
main_char_team =
past_current_color = background:#ff9275
writers = Claudio Sanchez
artists = Wes Abbot (Bag.On.Line Adventures releases of issues 1&2)
Gus Vazquez (The Amory Wars releases of issues 1 & 2)
Mike S. Miller (The Amory Wars releases of issues 3-5)
Gabriel Guzman (Volume 2)
pencillers =
inkers =
letterers= Matty Ryan
colorists = Rex Justice
creator = Claudio Sanchez

The Second Stage Turbine Blade is a series of comic books (and potentially a single graphic novel) narrating the concept behind the lyrics of the Coheed and Cambria album of the same name.

They are written by Claudio Sanchez, illustrated by Wes Abbot (currently on hiatus) and published by Evil Ink Comics, although the first issue is now out of print and the second one is rapidly becoming rare.

There are plans for Christopher Shy, the artist who illustrated the Good Apollo graphic novel, to illustrate a graphic novel of the entirety of "The Second Stage Turbine Blade" rather than having it released episodically as originally thought. [ [http://evilinkcomics.net/newsfull.html Evil Ink Comics ] ]

In June 2007 The Second Stage Turbine Blade was re-released under the new series title The Amory Wars. The new comics are written by Claudio Sanchez, illustrated by Gus Vasquez (Volume1:issues 1 & 2), Mike S. Miller (Volume 1:issues 3-5), and Gabriel Guzman (volume 2) and published by Image Comics. The first two issues of the new series are almost exactly the same as the originals, although with new art work, the third issue continues the story from where the old comics finished.

Overview

Released in the summer of 2004, the comic books narrate the events of approximately the first third of Coheed and Cambria's concept album "The Second Stage Turbine Blade". The story takes place in the distant past of the Milky Way. Heaven's Fence (or the Fence) is a group of 78 planetary systems connected by a visible energy beam known as the Keywork. Seven star transformers keep the Keywork operational. Three races, the Prise, humanity, and the Mages, occupy the Fence. The Mages rule over humankind, the Prise protect the Keywork, and the humans make up the general population of the Fence. Tri-Mage Wilhelm Ryan's rule has lasted for dozens of years and has descended into tyranny. A young female mage, named Mariah, has risen to power on Paris Earth (commonly believed to be our Earth) and represents a major threat to Ryan- she is gaining followers because she opposes Ryan's rule and demands justice.

One of Ryan's generals, Mayo Deftinwolf, creates a plan to rid the Fence of Mariah: Coheed Kilgannon is the unknowing and unwitting carrier of a dormant virus known as the Monstar. When activated, the Monstar endows its host with the ability to destroy star transformers and separate planets from the Keywork's unifying energy beam, resulting in an apocalypse for the inhabitants of the separated planets as they smash into other astronomical bodies. Mayo plans to activate the Monstar and send Coheed and his wife, Cambria, to Paris Earth, in hopes that the Monstar will only destroy the star transformer at Paris Earth, thus causing Paris Earth to break free of the Fence, ridding Wilhem of Mariah.

Coheed and Cambria Kilgannon are a married couple living in Sector 11: Valley Hills, Hetricus. They have four children: Matthew, Maria (not to be confused with Mariah), Josephine, and Claudio. Matthew and Maria are twins, appearing to be seven years old or younger. Josephine is almost 23 and Claudio is a junior in high school, so he should be around 17.

Plot

Volume 1

Issue 1

Original Release: 2004
Amory Wars Release: 13th June 2007

After a few mysterious pages featuring Coheed's brother, Jesse, a man named Henry, and two young children, the first chapter of the saga begins with an explanation of the Prise, the Mages, the Keywork, the Fence, and other fictional concepts central to the understanding of Coheed and Cambria's imaginary reality. (The events prior to the prologue are later explained in the Good Apollo graphic novel as the incineration of Longicinda, a defunct IRO-bot creation of Jesse's. One of the children is Chase, who becomes emotional when Jesse kills Longicinda.) This explanation is given by Jesse's unnamed son, widely believed to be a robot of some sort and one of the main protagonists in the band's second album. This belief, like many, can neither be confirmed nor denied until more information is released by the band. It is stated, however, that the narrator is not human. Alternatively, many feel that the narrator may be Claudio Kilgannon, son of Coheed and Cambria, or perhaps Chase, an IRO-bot girl created by Jesse.

Coheed and Cambria are creatures known as IRO-bots, or genetically enhanced humans, and were members of a defunct organization known as K.B.I.: the Knowledge (Cambria), the Beast (Coheed), and the Inferno (Jesse). Jesse is also called The Prize Fighter Inferno, due to his boxing career. The organization's purpose was to protect the Keywork from terrorist activity. The creator, however, turned out to be a terrorist himself, and installed the Monstar virus in Coheed. The Monstar, when activated, overwrites its host's personality and causes the host to have only one objective, the destruction of the Keywork and thus, Heaven's Fence. The Monstar accomplishes this via its ability to cool the Stars of Sirius, which hold the Keywork in place. K.B.I. was disbanded, Coheed and Cambria's memories wiped, and their creator killed (by Coheed). According to Mayo Deftinwolf, the highest-ranking general in Supreme Tri-Mage Wilhelm Ryan's army, Jesse is out to activate the Monstar virus in Coheed. Given that Mayo is a figure known to have malicious intentions (for the Kilgannons and the Keywork), the accuracy of his assertion is disputed by many fans.

Coheed and Cambria's children—Josephine, Claudio, and twins Matthew and Maria—are said to carry a mutation of the Monstar virus known as the Sinstar, or The Untamed. It is untreatable, and therefore much more dangerous: Mayo convinces the couple to kill their children for the safety of humanity. The Sinstar is believed to become active when one of the children turns 23: Josephine, the eldest of the Kilgannon children, is nearing that age.

The first comic book ends with Coheed putting poison into a green drink and bringing it to the sleeping twins. The couple are informed that, upon killing their children, they will fly to Paris: Earth to receive a cure for Coheed's Monstar. The truth is that Mayo and Ryan plan to release thousands of dragonflies on Paris: Earth, each with the ability to inject a specific serum, the Ciache, into humans. If Coheed is injected with the serum, the Monstar will be activated once he makes eye contact with Cambria and Paris: Earth will be knocked from the Keywork. The Prise discover Mayo's plan and vow to stop it by stopping the dragonflies, as their duty is to protect Heaven's Fence.

Issue 2

Original Release: 2005
Amory Wars Release: July 2007

The second comic opens with the last few minutes of Matthew and Maria's lives. Coheed has administered Mayo's poison to the twins, and spends their final minutes playing with them. They fall to the floor, dead, and Coheed says aloud, "Maria, my star... Matthew, goodnight." The story cuts away to a brutal attack by the Jersey City Devils (the "Corner Boys") on Josephine and her fiance, Patrick McCormack. At the same time, Claudio, who has been out with his girlfriend Newo Ikkin, realizes he has missed his 1 a.m. curfew and races home.

Josephine arrives at home in visible distress; Cambria takes her in compassionately. Coheed, aghast at the knowledge of what must be done, calls Josephine over and, with a large hammer, seals her fate via a "series of knocks to the young girl's head side" (as represented in the song "Everything Evil"). Patrick, surreptitiously arriving through the back door, witnesses Josephine's death. In terror, he flees the house. By now, three of the four Kilgannon children are dead, leaving only Claudio.

Elsewhere, the Prise pay a visit to rebel leader Mariah Antillarea. The reason for this meeting is not immediately clear; it's possible that they are there to warn her of the dragonflies destined for Paris: Earth.

Wilhelm Ryan, aware that Patrick has witnessed Josephine's death, is becoming anxious: not only is there a witness to the murder, but one of Coheed and Cambria's children still lives. He mentions that Claudio is a "threat beyond reasonable comprehension" and that, should he learn to use his "powers" and discover Ryan's treachery, he will be unstoppable. Ryan instructs Mayo to make sure that the couple are on their way to Paris: Earth immediately. Ryan also mentions the "priests," about whom little is known to the reader.

Mayo, accompanied by members of the Red Army, promptly shows up at the Kilgannon home. He begins to taunt Coheed, who is clutching the body of the slain Josephine. Coheed demands to know what will become of Claudio, and Mayo tells him that while he has no answers for Coheed, perhaps Cambria does. Cambria receives a vision of Wilhelm Ryan instructing Mayo to have the children killed, no matter what it takes, for he senses in the Kilgannon bloodline a power far greater than that of Ryan or Mayo. Cambria cries out in anguish. The Sinstar mutation was a fabrication. The children did not need to die. Suddenly, blades erupt from the scars in Coheed's arms, decimating Mayo's troops. A spray of bullets subdues Coheed eventually; however, he is only knocked unconscious, as not a single bullet pierces his skin. Mayo instructs his troops to carry Coheed and Cambria away, and tells two of them to stay behind to incinerate the house: no trace must remain for the young Claudio to discover.

While spreading gasoline throughout the house, the soldiers are attacked by what is presumably one of the "priests."

Issue 3

Original Release: N/A
Amory Wars Release: 29th August 2007

Issue 3 starts with Claudio, who was supposed to be home hours earlier, outside the Kilgannon house saying goodnight to his girlfriend, Newo. Noticing that the door is damaged, Claudio enters the house and slips on something on the floor: Josephine's blood. Grabbing his sister, Claudio briefly revives Josephine—the first sign of his true potential. Josephine tells Claudio about what happened in Jersey City, and tells him to leave her and run as he is attacked by a priest. Claudio puts up a fight, but ultimately escapes by becoming intangible and moving through the kitchen wall.

At the spaceport, Mayo Deftinwolf oversees Coheed and Cambria being loaded aboard the Gloria Vel Vessa for transport to Paris: Earth. At a nearby bar, Josephine's frightened boyfriend, Patrick, is acquiring a gun, but is soon hunted down by a priest who destroys the bar; Patrick barely escapes in a car.

Elsewhere, the Prise are asking Mariah Antillera for help. Jesse, or Prize Fighter Inferno, appears and informs the Prise that Ryan is planning to separate the Twelfth Sector from Heaven's Fence and alter God's creation. Inferno tells the Prise that if they do not reform their pact, Man will wage war.

Cutting away, Claudio is seen standing over a sleeping Newo. He wants to tell her everything that has happened, but realizes that the information will only endanger her. He leaves without saying goodbye.

The comic ends with a vision that Coheed and Cambria are having on the ship: it depicts the birth of the K.B.I., and the reader learns that the Monstar's antidote is, in fact, Josephine. Coheed awakes ready for revenge.

Issue 4

Original Release: N/A
Amory Wars Release: 24th October, 2007

Coheed is being transferred by the Red Army in a large tube, his arms restrained. Upon waking from his vision, he hears the men talking about how he killed his children, Maria, Matthew, and Josephine. At this, he becomes even more enraged: he and Cambria break their restraints and slaughter the soldiers, in spite of their pleas for mercy. The rampaging couple begin their efforts to seize control of the Gloria Vel Vessa.

At House Atlantic, Wilhelm Ryan watches his plan unfolding; the reader learns that Ryan has become deformed because of the war which he declared.

On Dil-Ariuth in Sector 12, Inferno and his team have discovered a monk transmitting data to the Red Army. Inferno attacks the monk when he tells them that his master has "sent him a message drenching in the blood of his brother," Coheed. Inferno tells the captain to get a report of transports that have left Sector 10 in the last 24 hours and to prepare the Grail Arbor for takeoff.

Back with Coheed and Cambria, Coheed feels a burning in his arm, where gashes appear. In spite of the agonizing pain, he pulls the skin off his forearm to see what is underneath, and what he is. He discovers a metal arm, which turns into a gun. Coheed and Cambria head toward the bridge of the Gloria Vel Vessa; they encounter many Red Army soldiers along the way. Cambria uses telekinesis to fling them against the ship walls, allowing Coheed to kill them with the gun in his arm.

In Jersey City, Patrick is making a phone call, recalling what happened at the Kilgannon home. As he's on the phone, the FBI arrive; Patrick approaches them and starts to drop his gun. Of course, all is not as it seems: the FBI agents fade away, and the priest that remains mutates into a large winged daemon, one of Wilhelm Ryan's firstborn. Stunned, Patrick laments, "What did I do to deserve this?" which is repeated in the song "Blood Red Summer".

On the Gloria Vel Vessa, the crew has sealed the bridge and are trying to contact help. Coheed and Cambria violently blast through the bridge doors; they demand the ship lands if they're not to hurt anyone else.

At the spaceport, Mayo Deftinwolf receives the distress signal from the Gloria Vel Vessa. He orders contact to be made to find out if Coheed and Cambria have escaped. His order is canceled by Admiral Vielar Crom, who then informs Deftinwolf that he has been relieved of his command. Crom orders the Red Army light-fighters to be deployed.

After a harsh interrogation, the crew of the Gloria Vel Vessa inform Coheed and Cambria that the ship is on auto-pilot and there's nothing that can be done. A ship appears behind the Vel Vessa, bearing Inferno, who orders an intercept course.

Issue 5

Original Release: N/A
Amory Wars Release: 16th January 2008

The fifth chapter opens with Patrick continuing his fight with Wilhelm Ryan's daemon, which was once one of the 12 Tri-Mages of the Keywork. Patrick tries to fight the monster off, but it freezes his gun with venom before impaling him through the chest with its tail. Patrick's last thoughts are of Josephine, with whom he can now find peace.

Still on the run, Claudio uses his newfound powers to reach through a shop window and steal a gun.

Coheed and Cambria have taken control of the Gloria Vel Vessa, but the ship that follows, The Grail Arbor, fires a warning shot across their starboard bow. Commanding a prisoner to communicate with the ship, Coheed finds himself facing his brother, Inferno, who tersely informs Coheed and Cambria that the Vel Vessa must be stopped one way or another. The prisoners suggest that they could rewire the ship's power to override the autopilot. Inferno tells them to act quickly, and ends communication; he instructs his crew to fire upon the Gloria Vel Vessa if it does not correct its course within an hour.

Wilhelm Ryan informs Deftinwolf that admiral Crom is trying to recapture Coheed and Cambria, and that he should go work on the dragonflies. If he does well he may regain his position. It becomes evident that Claudio is the one person in Heaven's Fence Wilhelm Ryan fears.

Mariah Antillera rallies troops to wage war at the steps of House Atlantic.

Coheed and Cambria arrive at the engine core of the Vel Vessa. In spite of his best efforts, Coheed fails to rewire the engine; frustrated, Cambria releases a burst of telekinetic power.

Deftinwolf reaches a genetic engineering lab, where he asks if the flies are ready; the doctor in charge of the project confirms that they are. Deftinwolf enters a room containing large chambers filled, ominously, with dragonflies. On Star IV, the Prise sense the fulfillment of the prophecy— Claudio, who is sneaking aboard a ship to escape Paris: Earth—and realize a member of their ranks must serve as his guardian.

Mariah is ensuring everything is ready for the rebellion against Ryan. Disembarking her ship, she finds she is too late: the Red Army have already begun their attack.

The reader learns that Cambria's powers destroyed the Vel Vessa's engine, and that the ship has been seized by Ryan's forces. As Inferno resolves to blow the ship up—in spite of the fact it carries his siblings—Coheed and Cambria share a final tender moment.

Six years later, Inferno wakes suddenly. He makes his way to the bridge and looks down upon a planet, thinking of Coheed, Cambria, and Mariah. Wondering what Mariah would want him to do, Inferno decides to seek out what remains of her rebellion.

Volume 2

Volume two of The Amory Wars: Second Stage Turbine Blade was released in June 2008. [ [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=151443 Claudio Sanchez on The Amory Wars III] , Newsarama, March 26, 2008] Volume two has a new artist, Gabriel Guzman, covers continue to be drawn by Tony Moore.

Issue 1

Original Release: N/A

Amory Wars Release: 4th June 2008

The Issue begins with Inferno confronting two children, Chase and Sizer, telling the crying children that "there is no room in our family for malfunctions" due to the destruction of Longcindia. The scene ends with Inferno leaving to continue on his work to seek out Mariah's rebellion

Meanwhile, Ryan oversees the Council of the Eurocons, "twelve opportunists who oversee the Keywork, making sure Ryan's followers are kept in line, while the seeking out the non-believers and crushing them." A Council Member speaks out concerning a disturbance in his sector, which openly describes part of Ryan's plan, that which colonies of subterranean beings have been taken and carried off-world in garbage scows. The Council Member confronts Ryan about the issue, only to be taken away and presumably killed.

The next scene begins with Claudio on the Guile Griever Garbage Carrier. The doors close quickly in the room Claudio steps in, trapping him in. Claudio soon remembers his newfound powers and phases through the door with ease. Upon entering the new room, Claudio discovers what the deceased council member confronted Ryan about in the previous scene. Rows of Alien-esque creatures fill the room in robotic containment jars filled with a green liquid containing the beings in a deep sleep.

On Star IV, Ambellina begins her mission and is burned, hair and wings. As she attempts to escape the pain by flying, her now fire-consumed wings fail her and she drops to the ground. All that remains of her wings are lifeless stumps of bone and a small flecks of feathers, while her body is a dark indigo blue.

Fire initiates upon the Notting-Vezer ship by the Grail Arbor, but fails to break the Juggernaut's Hold on the Gloria Vel Vessa, containing Coheed and Cambria. Cambria controls the Ship's crew into gathering explosives in an effort to destroy themselves. As Coheed prepares his Arm Canon to detonate the ship, the Canon deactivates from an unknown force, seen in the next panel to be Admiral Vielar Crom. Coheed readies himself for battle, as Cambria controls the Crew to attack Crom. Crom fights back, crushing the faces in of each crew member, leaving each dead on the floor.

As Inferno continues to fire upon the Notting-Vezzer, he is requested by Mariah that he be contacted with while war wages on the planet of Dil-Ariuth. Inferno runs to the cockpit of an escape ship of the Grail Arbor, commanding his soldier to secure the line between he and Mariah while the pod disconnects from the Grail Arbor.

The scene flashes to Dil-Ariuth IX, where Mariah controls soldiers of the Rebellion against the Red Army. Inferno appears to Mariah via transmit screen, and tells her to get off-world as soon as she possibly can to Paris: Earth to defeat the effort of Ryan to unleash the Cache Serum. As Mariah and the soldiers run for the airstrip, she and Inferno share love tidings as mariah unleashes a huge telekinetic attack which destroys a significant amount of the Red Army. She makes way with the soldiers off Dil-Ariuth IX.

General Mayo Deftinwolf is seen now, inside a ship, commencing a landing on Paris: Earth. Upon landing, he thinks about his demotion and swears revenge on "the dogs" who disrespect him, once he regains his position at the right hand of Ryan.

Back at the Kilgannon House, Newo enters a crime scene of the death of Coheed and Cambria's children. Two detectives scour the scene discussing the reason for the children's death and the reason for it. As Newo enters the house and the detectives attempt to block her from entering any further, a huge comet-like white light bursts from the sky into the house, where an orb hits inside the kitchen. Ambellina appears from the orb, clad in a blue space suit, she eyes Newo, and begins her mission.

Claudio is shown, toying with a computer, reading that the Guile Griever is en-route to Shylos Ten. He searches for answers as he further tampers with a pod in which an alien being is sleeping. As Claudio pushes a button, the being awakes, enraged and breaks from the container. He attempts to attack Claudio, but is shot down by a Red. Claudio escapes using his power of Invisibility, overhearing the disgust of the Planet of Shylos Ten.

Issue 2

Release Date: 2nd July 2008

Issue 3

Release Date: 6th August 2008

Issue 4

Release Date: 10th September 2008

ee also

*Coheed and Cambria
*Claudio Sanchez
*The Bag On Line Adventures

Notes

References

*comicbookdb|type=title|id=14146|title=The Second Stage Turbine Blade

External links

* [http://www.coheedandcambria.com Coheed and Cambria official website]
* [http://www.evilinkcomics.net Evil Ink Comics]
* [http://www.theamorywars.com The Amory Wars]