Author: Fraser

Share

Saga, Volume 1

Saga is exactly what it calls itself; given the scope and range of its tale it could be no less.

 At times, it seems as though Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples have not only thrown in the kitchen sink, but scooped out the garburator and pipes below. However, what seems a head-on collision between Warhammer, Starcraft, and Shadowrun reveals layers of interaction and a lot of thought behind its dizzying array of characters, factions, and locales. Blasters and organically grown spaceships, sorcery, robots, and ghosts all meet in the convergent chaos of its universe. Jarring at first, as the story reveals itself it is no longer so, the seemingly disparate bits build coherent bytes, growing in detail and interconnection.

With so many dishes spinning, it will be interesting to see how it unfolds in future. Sometimes difficult to categorize, if required to render classify it in a single phrase space opera would be closest — but not quite adequate.

Share

Green Wake, Volume 1

There is a nigh-palpable miasma cloaking the denizens of the town of Green Wake, seeping through their bones, settling into the brick, mortar, and rotting wood of its buildings. Coupled with a collective amnesia about the place and its origins, it pervades the narrative, tainting everyone and everything, taunting the reader with half revealed glimpses behind its masks.

Green Wake feels, at first, a cousin to other dark corners of the earth, such as Innsmouth, but it horrors are more unworldly – if anything could be. As in that misbegotten, best forgotten town of New England lore, things are not as they first appear. Unlike the forsaken stopover en route to venerable Arkham, however, Green Wake is further removed from the familiar while appearing more familiar. No one arrives in Green Wake with luggage, but everyone has baggage.

How and where their paths cross and interconnect is only where the narrative begins. How it unfolds is where the artistry of Kurtis J. Wiebe and Riley Rossmo shines — in a glass darkly.

Share

Steed and Mrs. Peel, Volume 1: A Very Civil Armageddon

Roger Ebert wrote in his review of The Thin Man (1934) that “William Powell is to dialogue as Fred Astaire is to dance.” The famous film’s characters of Nick and Nora Charles are among many duos both silver screen and television have had to offer over the years, delivering dialogue rich in wit dry as a martini, repartee and riposte sharp as any rapier. Among so many selections, few stand out so sharply as the characters of John Steed and Emma Peel, first brought to us in the 60s, at the height of the British spy spectacular. Although outlandish plots by nefarious ne’er-do-wells, ingenious gadgets and devilish devices are also hallmarks of the genre, nothing made The Avengers so memorable as their dialogue.

Rapid-fire interchange between Steed and Peel is perfectly portrayed throughout this first 128-page collection of the ongoing comic from Mark Waid, Caleb Monroe, Steve Bryant, and Will Sliney. The action moves along briskly, propelled in large part by the interaction between two star spies at the height of their Great Game. True to the original, the escapade always starts off in the middle of a scene, leaving the audience to put the pieces together as the subsequent action unfolds, always drawing the disparate pieces back together into a cohesive whole. In this regard, perhaps the best recommendation that can be made is that the reader immediately begins to crave a sequel, awaiting Steed’s classic, slyly delivered catchphrase:

“Mrs. Peel, we’re needed.”