Sirk TV Comic Review: The Vault #1, Red Spike #3, Marksmen #1 & Samurai's Blood #2 [Benaroya]

Balanced off the new re-visioning of Radical, the new line of recent comics from Benaroya Publishing harks back to the take-no-prisoners narrative flows of the 70s emphasizing the idea of darkness and mythic as intertwined brothers. Psychology does take an adequate personification in the order of life but what tends to define the people here is the act of the moment and how they deal with it on a purely visceral level.Red Spike (#3 of 5) Super-soldier creation has always been the underlying dream of the US military. Their pursuit: mixing robotics, machinery and man to make the perfect organism. The problem with this undying goal is that the human psyche moves in different forms of logic so complete integration will never be possible. The crux of the concept here forms around a boy whose father was taken by the military trying to follow in footsteps just because they are there. Something inevitably goes wrong simply because of psychosis. Jumping back and forth between present day and the inception of the op, a soldier must track down this rogue whose notions of conscience have seemingly malfunctioned. While some the images point to interesting possibilities, this genre has been heavily interspersed over the years so an edgy approach is necessary for it to gain traction.The Vault (#1 of 3) Using different elements of "The Thing" but in a tropical setting mixed with Dirk Pitt, the incessant nature functions like a proponent of "Ice Station Zebra". It tries to reflect in the ability to make a treasure hunt still relevant with a sense of terror despite all the technology available. The notion of the female-traversed action star seems to be back on the rise with more than adequate results. Gabrielle, as the captain of the ship and head researcher, takes results of the team with a grain of salt and not a testosterone driven reaction. Using deep sea response equipment,  they think they have found a money-based treasure only to reveal, not unlike MEG, a secret chamber that unearths a would-be coffin which through the art stirs up perceptions of Nemo and the structure of Jules Verne.Marksmen (#1 of 6) The intent of showing a post apocalyptic society reverting to a notion of the Old West takes into the account the idea of lawlessness being policed on its own merit. The build here though mixes more with a personification of "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome" intertwining with the innocent ideals of "Solarbabies". The reality is that the texture of such a mix of different genres ("The Walking Dead" and "Book Of Eli" notwithstanding) makes the originality of its narrative flow baseline at times. Drake, as a lead character, has the ability to interact and even consider the plight of his rescuers. However the inflection of a simple "Messiah" myth where a personage of his nature from a different way of life becomes the herald from underneath the others has been played with considerable mirth before with less than intriguing results.Samurai's Blood (#2 of 6) The interweaving texture of class rules within Samurai culture has been explored at lengths through the Shaw Brother kung-fu action serials of the 70s. The tendency here though is bent on the normality that true redemption comes on the heels of many failures. The ideal of the lead character Jun as a weaker species who, because of situations beyond his control, cannot prove himself in the earlier part of the story causes those that he loves including his sister to be forced into a line of work unbecoming of her honor or stature. The revelation, not yet commenced, truly needs to be bloody in its function. Most of the process within this issue however involves a lot of talking when what should be done is simple action. When Jun finally understands the primal necessity of his actions and how they affect his life overall then the narrative truly begins.