The Second Stage Turbine Blade (comic)
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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.[1]
Released in the summer of 2004, the two 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 Killgannon 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 Killgannon 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 appears around the age of 20, or somewhat younger.
The first comic book—after a mysterious few pages featuring Coheed's brother, Jesse, a man named Henry, and two young children—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 he is not human. Alternatively, many feel that the narrator may be Claudio Killgannon, son of Coheed and Cambria, or perhaps Chase, an IRO-Bot girl created by Jesse.
Coheed and Cambria are creatures known as IRO-Bots, which are 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 inside of Coheed the Monstar virus. 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 can accomplish this for it has the ability to cool the Stars of Sirius that hold the Keywork in place. The organization was disbanded, Coheed and Cambria's memories wiped, and their creator killed (by Coheed). Jesse is supposedly out to activate the Monstar virus in Coheed. This information is provided by Mayo, a figure known to have malicious intentions, so its accuracy is disputed by many fans.
Coheed and Cambria's children are said to contain an evolution of the Monstar virus known as the Sinstar, or The Untamed. It is untreatable, and therefore much more dangerous, and the couple is convinced by Mayo to kill their children for the safety of humanity. The Sinstar is believed to become active when one of the children turns 23. Josephine is said to be nearing that age. The first comic book ends with Coheed putting poison into a green drink and bringing it to the two sleeping twins. The couple, upon killing their children, are scheduled to fly to Paris Earth to supposedly 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 called the Ciache into humans. If Coheed is injected with the serum, the Monstar will be activated the second 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.
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." We then see the brutal attack by the Jersey City Devils (the "Corner Boys") on Josephine and her fiance, Patrick McCormick. Claudio is now racing back home after remembering that he was told be home by 1:00. Upon Josephine's arrival back home, her mother Cambria takes her in compassionately. Coheed, filled with fear and anxiety from the knowledge of what must be done, calls her over and seals her fate, via a "series of knocks to the young girl's head side." In his hand is a hammer, which he brings down upon Josephine's unsuspecting head. Patrick has come in through the backdoor, and witnesses Josephine's death. In terror, he flees the premises. At this point, three of the four Killgannon children are dead, leaving only Claudio.
The Prise, having donned in what looks like a protective cloak, pay a visit to Mariah Antillarea. We do not know yet what they are there for, as we are left with a cliffhanger. One assumption from the first comic is that they are there possibly to warn her of the dragonflies destined for Paris, Earth.
Wilhelm Ryan, aware that Patrick witnessed Josephine's death, is worried over both that fact and the last remaining son of Coheed and Cambria. He mentions that Claudio is a "threat beyond reasonable comprehension" and that if he should learn to use his "powers" and learn of their treachery, he will be unstoppable; hellbent on killing both Mayo and Ryan. Ryan instructs Mayo to make sure that the couple are on their way to Paris immediately. Ryan also mentions the "priests", of whom we have very little information on at this point in the story.
Mayo promptly shows up at the Killgannon home with his Red Army. 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 Killgannon 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 come forth from the scars in Coheed's arms, and he decimates many of 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 burn the house down so that no trace of what they did here tonight will remain for the young Claudio to discover.
While spreading gasoline in the house, the soldiers are attacked by what is believed to be one of the "priests". The issue ends with Claudio standing outside the Killgannon home and the line from the song Everything Evil, "You'll make it if you believe...".
No further issues of the Second Stage Turbine Blade have been released, leaving the remainder of the events of the chapter unknown beyond speculative interpretation of Coheed and Cambria's lyrics. A few events have been confirmed, either by Sanchez or retroactively in the Good Apollo graphic novel. This includes the eventual death of Coheed and Cambria, the activation of the Monstar virus leading to the separation of Paris Earth from the Keywork (and the entirety of Sector 12 in which it was located), and that The Second Stage Turbine Blade concludes with a dream that lasts into In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3.
