Review
“He's really let his appearance go. Americans no discipline.” - Arn Rutger Gilly escapes the clutches of the mad cultists, who were in the process of sacrificing her to what appears to be one of Lovecraft's elder gods, via the timely intervention of the enigmatic scarred dude. As luck would have it she runs into FBI Agent Justin Barnett and his “native American” sidekick. All roads then lead to Savannah and the final confrontation with the homicidal Arn Rutger aka Dracula. I've got to say I'm slightly disappointed with the ending to the current story arc in The Twilight Age. For sure we get the much anticipated final confrontation between Agent Justin and the psycho Rutger, but the whole elder god thing comes off more as a wet squid than a cosmic force of pure evil, and whatever happened to the seismic shifts mentioned in the first issue of the comic? You get the feeling that Scherpenhuizen is perhaps aiming for further issues of the comic, given all the loose ends that need tidying up, but as of writing there seems to be no movement at the station there. Guess I'm simply pointing out I didn't get the expected closure with Sacrifice and am left wondering where things might go to from here. J. Scherpenhuizen keeps up the art level through Sacrifice and doesn't let the standard drop with the final instalment of the story. The issue is pretty packed, script wise, but the Author/Artist keeps things rocking with some solid layout styles that will have you happy with life. Excellent use of rain in the second half of the comic, adding a touch more interest as things heated up. Right from the first issue J. Scherpenhuizen has added little touches to liven things up and add new dimensions to the art. So if after an example of the comic book as art form then for sure dial into Sacrifice if not the whole Twilight Age series, it's been one hell of a journey art wise, with the comic a requirement for dark genre collectors in this part of the world. While the script closes out the Arn Rutger story arc in style there were a few things left hanging that do tend to bring up the ire feeling. What was the fate of the folks caged in the blood factory? Do we have one of the elder gods on the loose? Did the scarred dude survive the assault on the cult? People wanting answers to all the plot points are going to be sadly disappointed here as a number of loose ends are left drifting in the wind. If J. Scherpenhuizen doesn't revisit The Twilight Age universe then this is going to be a major weakness with readers left to wonder if plot points were forgotten, ideas not fully developed, or the script finding itself in a corner and changing direction. Time will tell I guess as the Author/Artist appears to be taking a well needed break from what after all has been a fairly tense year of comic production. 
Overall, in terms of how Sacrifice fits into a wholistic approach, I have to say that if you haven't been getting your Twilight Age on then the issue will leave you somewhat dazed and confused. You have to know what's gone on before to get the whole beat going down in this issue. For example Arn Rutger's assertion that he was wrong about Agent Barnett being a wolf only holds relevance if you have been following developments from the first issue. Equally the ending of Sacrifice is going to have a lot more resonance if you have been fully immersed in the character of the FBI Agent. Barnett goes more cigarette smoking man here than Fox Mulder. If you haven't got into the series yet then I would suggest you hit it from the first issue and read through chronologically, not all major characters are introduced at the same time, and you will need to get a handle on the whole motivational thing. Besides which as a whole The Twilight Age is wonderfully entertaining and quite the achievement. I've been quite harsh on this Issue, which I guess is fair enough given some disappointment over how things finish, but I have to say that J. Scherpenhuizen has done quite the job in keeping things rocking along. Characters develop over the course of the five Issues making up the first story arc, and you get the real feeling that things are moving in a real world sense rather than being static. So while the backdrop keeps things rolling, it's an ever changing backdrop. Excellent script throughout, though there's a feeling that some things weren't as fully developed as you might wish. Full recommendation, this is one series of comics that you really can't afford to avoid. If after copies than hit Black Boox and scare up your copy for a neat $5.00, about the price of a schooner of beer kids.
ScaryMinds Rates this read as ... Some disappointment on how things concluded.
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