''Sigil'' is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

published by Cross Gen Entertainment from July

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

to December

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, ending at

issue Issue or issues may refer to: Publishing * ''Issue'' (company), a mobile publishing company * ''Issue'' (magazine), a monthly Korean comics anthology magazine * Issue (postal service), a stamp or a series of stamps released to the public * '' ...

forty-two. ''Sigil'' was one of the publisher's first four

titles A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

(the others being '' Mystic'', ''

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'', and ''

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

''), originally created by

Mark Alessi Mark Albert Alessi (August 28, 1953 – March 29, 2019) was an American businessman who was the CEO of a number of companies, most notably as the founder of comic publisher CrossGen where he created a number of the titles. Biography Alessi's f ...

and Gina M. Villa. The book is one of many from the publisher that took place in the Sigilverse, or the Cross Generation Universe. In 2011, ''Sigil'' was part of

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

' relaunch of the Cross Generation Universe.

Setting

The bulk of ''Sigil'' takes place on and around the worlds of the ''Planetary Union'', a group of five human-inhabited planets: ''Gaia'' (believed to be humanity's home world), ''Brejhur'', ''Delassia'', ''Kayseecay'', and ''Victor''. Humans had also

colonized 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

the neutral world of ''Tanipal'', which

seceded Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal is the c ...

from the Union sometime before the start of the series. Tanipal is ruled by the Sultan Ronolo. As the series opens, the Planetary Union has been at war with the ''Saurians'', a starfaring race of

reptilian humanoids Reptilian humanoids, or anthropomorphic reptiles, also called reptiloids, etc., appear in folklore, fiction, and conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspira ...

, for several centuries. The extent of the Saurian empire is unknown, but it is known that the planet of Tcharun serves as its centre of power.

Plot synopsis

Samandahl "Sam" Rey was a former soldier for the Planetary Union. He and his good friend Roiya Sintor were laid off from the army due to cutbacks and became mercenaries. The pair were "vacationing" in the pleasure world of Tanipal when the series begins. While on Tanipal, Sam and Roiya meet the beautiful Zanniati Oribatta and her bodyguard, an orange-eyed man named JeMerik Meer, joining their team permanently. During that initial meeting, a Saurian assassin squad arrived looking for Sam who had previously made an enemy of Tchlusarud, the youngest Saurian prince, who now desperately wants him dead. In the ensuing fight, Sam was tackled by an odd Saurian with glowing orange eyes. That Saurian said to Sam, "You shall find them, gather them, and lead them" before branding him with a swirling red and yellow mark: the

sigil A sigil () is a type of symbol used in magic. The term usually refers to a pictorial signature of a spirit (such as an angel, demon, or deity). In modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, a sigil refers to a symbolic represen ...

. After which the Saurian then disappeared. While Sam was distracted, one of the attacking Saurians impaled Roiya with his weapon, fatally injuring her. The four retreated to Sam's ship, ''The Bitterluck'', where they failed to save Roiya's life. In a fit of rage, Sam activated his sigil, destroying a large part of the city in the process.

Relaunch

''Sigil'' was relaunched by

in March 2011 with an entirely different storyline. Now starring Samantha Rey, a 16-year-old South Carolina girl who awakens one day to find herself branded with a strange symbol, she finds herself thrust into a war across time.

Creative teams

''Sigil'' was created by

and Gina M. Villa. The original creative team consisted of writer

Barbara Kesel Barbara Randall Kesel (née Randall, born October 2, 1960) is an American writer and editor of comic books. Her bibliography includes work for Crossgen, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, and Marvel Comics. Biography K ...

, the Lai Brothers (

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett, Benson or Ebenezer, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin ...

on pencils and Ray on inks), and Wil Quintana coloring. Over the years, this line-up changed several times.

Writers

Mark Waid Mark Waid (; born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles ''The Flash'', '' Kingdom Come'' and '' Superman: Birthright'' as well as his work on ''Captain America'', ''Fantastic Four'' and '' Da ...

Chuck Dixon Charles Dixon (born April 14, 1954) is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on the Marvel Comics character the Punisher and on the DC Comics characters Batman, Nightwing, and Robin in the 1990s and early 2000s. Early life D ...

* Mike Carey (under the relaunched

CrossGen imprint)

Pencillers

Ben Lai Ben Lai is a Canadian comic book penciler who worked on series such as ''Sigil'', ''Radix'', ''Thor'' and ''X-Men''. His brother, Ray Lai, often inks his work. In 2002, the Lai brothers were involved in a controversy when the Massachusetts Inst ...

: His first penciling gig was with

CrossGen Cross Generation Comics or CrossGen Comics was an American comic book publisher and entertainment company that operated from 1998 to 2004. The company's assets were acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2004, and designated to Disney Publishing ...

and ''Sigil''. He left with his brother and ''Sigil'' inker, Ray Lai, due to creative differences. * Kevin Sharpe: Also got his start on ''Sigil''. *

Steve McNiven Steven McNiven is a Canadians, Canadian comic book artist. He first gained prominence on CrossGen's ''Meridian (comics), Meridian'', before moving onto books such as ''Ultimate Secret'', ''Marvel Knights 4'', The New Avengers (comics), ''New Aven ...

: Pencilled a backup story, one of his earliest works as a penciller. *

Scot Eaton Scot Eaton is a Comic book creator, comic book artist, best known for his work on ''Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man'', ''Thor (Marvel Comics), Thor'', ''X-Men: Endangered Species'', and ''X-Men: Messiah Complex''. Career In the early 1990s Eato ...

Dale Eaglesham Dale Eaglesham is a Canadian comic book illustrator who has been working in the American industry since 1986. He is best known for his work on titles like '' Conan'', '' Punisher'', ''Green Lantern'', ''Villains United'', ''Justice Society of Amer ...

Leonard Kirk Leonard Kirk is an American-born comic book artist living in Canada. He has worked on such properties as ''Supergirl (comic book), Supergirl'', ''Justice Society of America, JSA'', ''Star Trek'', ''Batman (comic book), Batman'', and ''Witchblade' ...

: First artist under the relaunched Marvel Comics CrossGen imprint.

Books

published four trade paperback books containing the first part of the series: * ''Sigil Volume 1: Mark of Power'', , * ''Sigil Volume 2: The Marked Man'', , * ''Sigil Volume 3: The Lizard God'', , * ''Sigil Volume 4: Hostage Planet'', , CrossGen also announced a further two books, but went bankrupt before they were published. Checker Books released them in July 2007: * ''Sigil Volume 5: Death Match'', , * ''Sigil Volume 6: Planetary Union'', ,

References

{{reflist 2000 comics debuts Comics set on fictional planets CrossGen titles Science fiction comics