The Amory Wars: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3

The Amory Wars: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 is a comic written by Claudio Sanchez and Peter David and illustrated by Chris Burnham. It was published by Evil Ink with [http://www.boom-studios.com/ BOOM! Studios] in 2010. It is the third chapter in The Amory Wars saga.

Plot Summary
Ten years after the events in Second Stage, Claudio sits outside Newo's house and, confronted by Apollo, tells him the story thus far... Beginning on Shylos X, Claudio drinks and gambles to survive. He is haunted by his father, Coheed, who urges him to do the right thing by taking his place as The Crowing.

Meanwhile, Jesse is struggling with the loss of his family, and keeps his IRO-bot creations (Sizer and Chase) at a distance to avoid the pain of losing more. He continues to attack at Ryan's forces, but refuses to put the pair in battle. The leftover Prise, now led by Onria, join him as they are found out hiding on the storm planet Donar. They are able to flee to Paris: Earth, now known as Silent Earth: 3 as it is the third planet orbiting the now loose Star VI. They prepare for the Red Army to follow them and engage, leaving Inferno no choice but to put "his children" on the field. Chase is able to mulitply the remaining Prise, strengthening their numbers and they capture Ryan who graces the field with his presence. Sizer is captured by Deftinwolf and tortured for information, but Sizer would rather die. He is cut up and discarded in the sewers of Godder Damm.

Ambellina, a fallen Prise, has been carefully guarding Claudio this whole time, but after an Onstaintine Priest attacks him, decides to kick his butt into gear. The pair find Sizer, and Claudio fixes him. Reluctantly, he begins to accept his role, and, after Shylos X is overrun with Narrows, the three hitch a ride with Al to House Atlantic. They take a minor detour to Camp Si-Revody to try to liberate Cecil, but end up accidentally destroying not only Cecil but the whole camp. Back in the ship, Ambellina discovers the bodies of the women Al has killed, and becomes incapacitated by him. Claudio is also temporarily incapacitated, but quickly recovers and they crash land on Omega near the Red Army HQ. Claudio happens to meet Inferno and Chase, but is stabbed by Al through the heart. With the help of the ghost or memory of Cambria, he is able to heal himself and controls Al's mind, setting him on their enemies.

After a brief period, it is clear that they are outnumbered and Sizer convinces Inferno to call a retreat, which he agrees to do. Unexpectedly, the remaining Prise who have been with Inferno's forces are somehow captured, destroyed, or otherwise absorbed into House Atlantic and the structure reforms into a robot-like figure that generates a huge energy blast. Claudio, better trained by Ambellina, is able to generate a kind of shield that bounces back the blast onto the structure itself and destroys it, allowing them to get away and regroup. Back to the present with Apollo outside of Ikkin's house, Kilgannon makes peace with not only Ikkin, but his father as well, whose figure finally disappears. Resolute, he stands and heads out telling Apollo that he'll be burning Star IV.

Publication History
Keeping Secrets had a total 12 issues. The first was published by Evil Ink in May 2010 with BOOM! Studios. Unlike the previous series, issues came out almost monthly until the last issue was published on June 2011. There were three collected volumes that came out. The first volume was released in November 2010, and included the first four issues. The second volume was released in April 2011 and included the next four issues (#5-8), with the last volume collecting the final four issues in August of the same year. An omnibus "Ultimate Edition" was published in May 2012 and continues to be reprinted periodically. This edition includes all 12 issues, a clean cover gallery, and various sketches from different artists that worked on the series.

Creative Team
Peter David is an award winning comic book writer. He has also written for novels, TV, films and video games. He is no stranger to The Amory Wars, having previously worked with Sanchez on writing the novel Year of the Black Rainbow (published the year prior to Keeping Secrets ' comic release). His most notable work includes The Incredible Hulk which won the Eisner Award in 2019.

Artist Chris Burnham is most notable for his work on Batman Incorporated where, aside from Keeping Secrets, he has a long list of credits. He has been awarded a #1 New York Time Best Selling Artist spot for the series as well. In the Ultimate Edition, he writes that he wishes "his teachers and relatives would have been less supportive" so he could "shove his success in their faces." It also mentions his personal career highlights include the Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch fighting Nazi Robots in The Marvel Mystery 70th Anniversary Special.

He worked closely with Aaron Kuder, to whom he brought into work on Keeping Secrets when his work on Batman, Inc. took off. He has done a lot of work in the magazine Action Comics. He has also worked on Key of Z with Evil Ink.

Guest artist Tim Bradstreet who did the Cover A for issue 1 is highly known for his cover art, posters, RPGs and even trading cards. Notable series he's contributed to include Vampire: The Masquerade, The Punisher, and the cover of Iron Maiden's A Matter of Life and Death album.

Colorist Zac Atkinson has colored for many comics by both DC and Marvel, including Young Justice, and Transformers. On his site, he creates a free parody webcomic of Avatar: The Last Airbender cheekily called "The Last Fartbender."

Ian Brill, though an Editor on this project, is usually a writer and has written for Disney series such as Darkwing Duck, and Chip n' Dale.

Album Comparison
"" This chapter of the story is told by Claudio to Apollo, Newo's dog. Though the story is fairly linear, the songs are slightly out of order. One prime example of this is the order of the songs in The Camper Velourium suite: "The Camper Velourium II: Backend of Forever" chronologically takes place before "The Camper Velourium I: Faint of Hearts". The title track, "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3", actually depicts the battle on Silent Earth: 3 which happens midway through the comic.

Trivia

 * Silent Earth: 3, referenced in the title, is mentioned as having been colonized several times throughout the story, and is actually Paris: Earth after the Separation of Section 12.